My View From the Window
by Prism Angel
Summary: A suspence thriller occurring after the defeat of Sephiroth, as Vincent Valentine feels an odd strength drawing him to a homeless flower girl named Allie who is suddenly labeled as Lucrecia's reincarnation and hunted by a mysterious stranger...


My View From the Window ~ Chapter One  
  
The burning wouldn't stop, no matter how much I writhed. The feeling coursed excruciatingly through my veins, biting my skin, scalding my body. I couldn't see--my eyes were squeezed shut and refused to open, and even though I wanted to scream my paralyzed throat prohibited the escaping of any noise. I felt my long, waterlogged hair streaming through the liquid around me, and I clutched my arms against me in a futile effort to stifle my harrowing anguish. I could feel the mechanical oxygen mask over my nose and mouth and could even hear the hum of the tubes attached to the equipment outside my cage, but my brain seemed to refuse to accept this and I felt the sensation that I was suffocating anyway. I threw myself against the glass in a desperate effort to escape, but this accomplished nothing, since I was horribly exhausted, and I pitifully slid my hand down it, silently begging for mercy.  
  
None came, and I slowly fainted away into darkness.  
  
*****  
  
I emitted a terrified gasp and sat straight upwards, flinging the torn blankets from atop me. I sat for several seconds in absolute silence, with the exception of my heaving breaths, and slowly cast my gaze in a gradual circle around me. After of several seconds of absorption I recognized the familiar scenery of the alleyway around me, and the reassuring sounds of barking stray dogs and scurrying mice. I exhaled a long, weary breath and collapsed backwards, running a hand through my long, tangled blond hair which had grown noticeably damp with frightened sweat. "........A dream...." I murmured breathlessly, gazing up towards the sunless heavens above me. "...That's all it was.....Some nightmare.....That same one I've had for the past week and a half..." I exhaled a short, breathless sigh, and after a pause I suddenly leapt to my feet with a jolt. "....Aah!! There's no time for me to be daydreaming!! I gotta get going!!"  
  
I turned and crouched again, folding up the wrinkled sheets I had been sleeping beneath, then placed them neatly near the large silver garbage can situated in the corner. I let out an amused giggle and swept my hand over the back of the snoozing black and white stray cat enveloped in the shadows. "Aww, you came to protect me, Lucky?" I chuckled happily, watching the small kitten glance up at me through one blurry amber eye. The other one, disgustingly raked with large scar, remained closed. She let out a quiet chirp and curled back up into a ball.  
  
Humming softly, I trudged over to a pipeline positioned towards the front of the alleyway and kneeled down by the faucet, which was dripping steadily from the lack of use. I forced the rusted knob to turn, then emitted a squeal of disgust and stumbled backwards. "Damn that's cold!! And I thought the mornings were freezing..."  
  
After forcing myself to wash in the frigid water that flowed from the conduit, I yanked a dirty, faded dress over my head and straightened the black fabric belt about my waist, then wrapped a torn shawl around my shoulders. I combed my fingers through my knotted blond hair, then lifted a wide straw basket up onto my arm. With strain, I managed to push open the top of the abandoned dumpster and reach inside, pulling out several large bouquets of flourishing flowers (somehow the climate within the refuse heap was warmer than the one of the outdoors and they were able to blossom rather successfully). I slid several bunches beneath my arm into the basket, then released another weary sigh and headed towards the entrance into the alleyway, out towards the street.  
  
*****  
  
"Help a girl in need, sir?" I asked innocently, strutting up to a passerby and holding up a flowering tulip. "Best price you can get anywhere, 3 gil a flower, 40 for a bouquet!"  
  
The man gazed cautiously down at the bud I held in my fingers, then pulled his hat further down over his face and continued onward. "No thanks, miss."  
  
"Oh, please, sir, don't turn your back on a starving child!!" I begged piteously, chasing after him with sorrowful eyes. "....I...I haven't eaten in days, and I need a new shawl......It is so very cold today, please have a heart!! It's like purchasing karma!!  
  
"I said no thank you, miss," he repeated, turning away and transversing a street at a crosswalk.  
  
I stared after him for several seconds, my breaths misting in the cold air, then clenched my fists and narrowing my eyes in rage. "Selfish bastard!!" I shouted angrily, even though I knew he was well out of earshot. "You come back and say that to my face! You're gonna get one helluva scalding when the devil comes for your ass, mister!!"  
  
I exhaled an aggravated breath, then whirled about and stomped back towards where I had been standing before. "....Jesus, are the people in these slums getting more and more egotistical, or is it just me?" I huffed angrily, fidgeting with the flower bud between my hands. "Usually when I use that story, someone will give me money to eat or something.....Ahh, I don't need him, I'll get my wages some other way."  
  
I surveyed the pedestrians around me, then randomly chose one and ran up to him. It was a young man, probably in his early twenties, accompanied by a girl of about the same age. The man had spiky blond hair and unnaturally deep blue-green eyes, while the girl possessed long auburn hair and hazel eyes. Both glanced over at me when I approached.  
  
"Good morning, sir," I greeted as friendily as I could. "Care for a flower to impress your girlfriend?"  
  
"Huh?" He blinked several times, then glanced down at the girl. "...Well, we're kinda in a hurry..."  
  
"Oh, please, it will help a homeless girl!!" I interrupted deplorably, clasping my hands in front of me. "Please....Many people seem to not care about the poor anymore, and I'm beginning to lose my one source of salary......I'm so hungry.....and so cold..."  
  
"Ummm..." The man gazed uncomfortably at my disheveled face, then back at the woman on his arm.  
  
"Oh, come on, Cloud, don't be such a miser," she scolded. "Get a couple flowers from the poor girl." She grinned. "....Remember, roses are my favorite."  
  
"Ok, ok," Cloud huffed, pulling out several coins. "Here, here. Three roses for Tifa, please."  
  
I smiled, then reached into my basket and pulled out the specified number of blossoms. "Thank you so much," I acknowledged, accepting the money and placing the flowers into the woman's, whose name I guess was Tifa, hands. "Such deeds eventually pay off in your favor."  
  
"Not at all!" Tifa exclaimed, totally interrupting what Cloud was about to say. "You just be careful, ok? There are a lot of weird guys out here in the slums, and it's no place for a girl like you."  
  
I smiled gratefully. "....Thank you, I will." With that, I turned and headed back in the direction that I came. Tifa and Cloud continued on their way down the street.  
  
"She was very sweet, don't you think?" Tifa asked, bracing herself against a rush of wind that swept furiously through the dry, frosty air. "It's too bad that even pretty young girls like that can still be subjected to poverty and misfortune......These slums are a horrible place to live..."  
  
Cloud exhaled a distant sigh and gazed up towards the sky above him. ".......Yeah.....Y'know, that girl....she kinda reminded me of ....Aeris..."  
  
"...Well, she was a flower girl," Tifa huffed sarcastically, spiteful at the mention of her rival's name. "Besides that...." She suddenly blinked, then whirled mockingly towards him. "....You thought she was hot, didn't you??"  
  
"H...huh??!!" Cloud spun towards her, and his face washed a faint shade of crimson. "I....I did not!!" he protested defensively, turning his head away.  
  
"Heehee.....Cloud, you're bright red!!"  
  
".....Women..." Cloud muttered almost inaudibly, gruffly thrusting his hands into his pockets as Tifa continued to taunt him. Suddenly he blinked, stopped walking, and felt around his pocket. "...Hey--!"  
  
"Hm??" Tifa turned back towards him as he forced his pocket open and gazed disbelievingly inside. "Cloud, what's the matter?"  
  
"That...that little rat!!!" he suddenly shouted furiously, whirling around to glare behind him. "She...she was nothing but a goddam little swindler!!"  
  
"What?? Cloud, what are you talking about??"  
  
"That damn flower girl!!" he huffed tumultuously, clenching his fist. "I...I don't know how she did it, but....somehow, amongst our conversation, she swiped my goddam wallet!!"  
  
*****  
  
"Hahahahaha!!!" I laughed triumphantly, ducking into the safety of a shaded alleyway and leaning back against the wall. "This is perfect!! What a pair of suckers!! They took my poor innocent stories hook, line, and sinker!! Hahaha!!" I reached into my pocket and pulled out the leather poach I had swiped from Cloud's coat and shook it, listening to the jingle of enclosed money. I hungrily ripped open the sac and spilled the contents into my hand, then let out a cry of disappointment. "What the hell---this guy is more broke than I am!! There's only....one...two...seven...seventeen!! Seventeen freakin' gil!! What a stupid waste of my time..."  
  
I exhaled another annoyed breath, then pocketed the money, straightened the strap of the basket on my arm, and headed back out onto the street. "Oh, well, there's got to be some rich creeps out here..." I examined the people that passed me by, but most didn't cast a second glance in my direction. I even attempted to approach a couple, but they simply refused my by a silent wave of their hands or ignoring me altogether.  
  
"Damn..." I panted in discouragement. "Looks like no one cares at all...."  
  
Famished and weakened by the icy climate, I leaned back against a vast wall lining the sidewalk and rubbed my bare arms, which had turned noticeably paler and numb from the cold (fortunately, my constant exposure to such temperature assuaged my fear of becoming frostbitten), and exhaled a breath. "......Y'know, I really could use some new clothes..." I whispered softly to myself. "Nothing too horribly expensive, but maybe a coat, or at least a sweater..." I immediately snapped myself back into reality and stood up straight. "...What am I talking about!" I exclaimed to no one. "I've been perfectly fine this whole time!! I don't need anyone, I don't need anything! I'm just fine!" I snorted out a matter-of-fact breath and crossed my arms. "....That's right, I'm a loner! A survivor! An...an...outcast...  
  
"Ah, well, whatever," I interrupted myself, sliding my basket off my arm and placing it lightly down onto the pavement. "I need a break..." As I stretched my sore muscles, my gaze gradually drifted to a large pile of random garbage, probably close to ten feet tall, leaning against the wall only a yard or two away. I stared over at it for several seconds in silence. "...Jesus, Allie, have you really sunk this low...?" I asked myself as I approached the heap. "Searching through trash for something to keep warm...? You really are desperate, you stupid bitch..." I exhaled a sigh and lifted myself atop a sturdy box, then began rummaging through the refuse for any type of cloth or source of heat. "....This is disgusting..." I moaned, seizing a bleached quilt but realizing it was stained with patches of dried vomit. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." Several seconds of silence passed, with the exception of my hands searching through the waste and the sounds of passersby behind me (I was determined not to turn around and reveal my face to any of them), and I soon found myself humming random tunes that popped into my head. "...All I want is a room somewhere....far away from the cold night air....with one enormous chair, oh wouldn't it be loverly...?" I continued to murmur the lyrics under my breath, then froze as I felt a pair of staring eyes boring into my back.  
  
I didn't move for several seconds, then gradually cast a glance over my shoulder until I completely whirled about to face my spectator. My confused azure eyes eventually met a pair of sharp scarlet ones.  
  
It was a young man, probably in his late twenties or so, with long black hair falling loosely around his shoulders. His skin was unnaturally pale, and he stared blankly at me through his unnatural crimson eyes. Red eyes...? I thought to myself, gaping perplexedly back at the man. I...I don't think I've ever seen such a color before...  
  
The man did not budge from his spot on the pavement, and I forced myself to stifle a shiver as he continued to gaze straight through me. An icy breeze whipped straight down the sidewalk, fluttering the stranger's coat and causing his thick ebony hair to stream. His ashen face soon became revealed to me, and I found him remarkably handsome; however, the dismal air about him sent several tremors cascading down my spine.  
  
My eyes finally fell to my flower basket on the asphalt, and immediately I snapped back into reality. Exhaling a startled, "....Oh...!" I leapt down from my perch atop the box, landed clumsily on my feet, snatched up my bassinet, and raced up to him. "....Care for a flower, sir??"  
  
He blinked several times, appearing to return from some sort of reverie. "....What?"   
  
"A flower," I repeated, lifting a snapdragon from my basket with a smile. "Do you want one? They're only 3 gil apiece, and it'll help me get some food and clothes. Please?"  
  
".......I......" He gaped incomprehensibly towards me, then exhaled a weary breath and took several steps backwards, straightening the collar of his coat. ".......No thanks. Flowers aren't exactly my style."  
  
"Hey, wait!!" I called, running after him as he continued down the sidewalk. I suddenly grabbed hold of his jacket. "How can you do this?? Have you no heart?!"  
  
"..........No." With that, he shook me off and continued walking. "Thank you for clearing that up."  
  
"...Hmph." I turned angrily and walked in the opposite direction. "I should be the one thanking you."  
  
"Eh?" The man spun back around to face me, watching me duck into a sidestreet. "Thank me for what?"  
  
I cast a quick glance over my shoulder to check that he could no longer see me, the emitted a gleeful laugh and pulled out the wallet I had captured from his pocket when I had seized him. "....For more than you know, moron."  
  
I brushed my hair behind my ears, then turned and proceeded down the sidewalk. "Two suckers in one day," I giggled to myself. "This is getting easier as time goes--" I was cut off and a startled cry escaped my throat as I was suddenly knocked off my feet and sent sprawling to my left hip. "Hey--!!" I angrily glared up and spotted a large man, with whom I had directly collided, standing above me, swaying unsteadily as he dazed down at me. "Watch where you're going, idiot!!" I snapped furiously, then emitted a irritated gasp as I spotted several bouquets of various flowers spilled out in the slush lining the street. "You jerk!! You made me drop two days worth the flowers! Two freakin' days!! You stupid moron!!"  
  
"...Watch your mouth, chickie!" he bellowed in return, his words slurring clumsily as he pointed down at me. "You ain't got no right ta say anythin' 'bout me, understand??"  
  
He's totally wasted....Gross....! "Oh, yeah?" I huffed angrily, retrieving my fallen blossoms and getting to my feet. "Well, apology accepted, you dolt!!"  
  
"What'd I just tell yas...?!" he sputtered inebriatedly, seizing my wrist and jerking me back towards him as I attempted to leave.  
  
"...I don't know, I couldn't understand you, you drunken bastard!!" I hissed, yanking on my hand in an endeavor to escape. "Let go of me!"  
  
"You'd betta watch your ass, sweetie..." he hiccuped, tossing my wrist away acrimoniously and pointing a shaking finger at me. "The way yous been actin'.....it could get chas hurt....it'd be a shame, a pretty lass like you...heheh..."  
  
"Hmph." I straightened the basket on my arm and whipped my head away from him, then turned on my heel and sauntered back the way I had come. "Jerkoff..." I muttered, casting a glance over my shoulder back at him. "You're in no position to tell me anything until you sober up! What an idiot...!"  
  
*****  
  
Business did not pick up any further for the rest of the day, and I didn't even get a chance to steal any other money pouches besides all those I already had. Dusk was beginning to fall, and the clouded heavens began to release drifting flakes of snow. I had wandered several long, icy blocks away from my residence, so I decided to take a breather in an deserted back alleyway and rest my sore feet.  
  
"Heehee..." I let out a soft, victorious giggle as I pulled out the wallet I had stolen from the second man and began to count its contents. "Holy crap!! Two hundred, two hundred fifty....three hundred seventy-five gil!! Jackpot!! That guy must have just gotten his paycheck or something!! Wheeee!!" I began to search through the rest of the wallet, and my eyes fell to a photo ID of the same dark man I had stolen it from. "........'Vincent Valentine'...." I read quietly, glancing towards the man's deep ruby eyes. "What a weird guy....What was that feeling that shot through my body as soon as he glanced over at me...?"  
  
"Hey, guys!" someone called from behind me. "It's Eliza!"  
  
"Huh?" I turned as the forms of several dusty adolescent males stepped out from the shadows behind me, and immediately I stuck out my tongue towards them. "...You idiots. What dumpster did you climb out of?"  
  
"The same one you did, dearie," one with ruffled brunette hair, who I knew as Claude, teased me, giving me a light pinch on the shoulder. "Who're you to judge?"  
  
"Ah, a busy day, I see!" another with long black hair in a ponytail, named Will, exclaimed, snatching the wallet from my unexpecting hands. "Why can't you be a good girl and actually sell flowers for once, Eliza?"  
  
"You--!! Give it back!!" I commanded, lunging towards the wallet. However, he simply held me back with his foot and began to thumb through the enclosed money.  
  
"Whoa-ho, this dude's loaded!" he asserted happily, holding up the cash for the rest of his gang to see. "L'il Eliza hit the freakin jackpot!!"  
  
I gave him a punch in the stomach and stole the wallet and money back from his hands and slipped both back into my pocket. ".....Hmph. Maybe if you morons actually went out and got yourselves a job, you'd have a similar turnout."  
"Since when did pickpocketing classify as an occupation?" a third gangmember with dirty, short red hair named Ryo, questioned sarcastically leaning his chin on the back of his hand. "And who's gonna hire a bunch of homeless bastards like us?"  
  
"I dunno, but you can stop picking on me." I stuck my tongue mockingly out at all of them and smiled. "Just cuz I know you all want me..."  
  
"I don't know about your body, but, damn, I could sure use all that cash you pull in every day," Hiro, a tall teenager with short, pale blond hair, commented dreamily, holding his shaking hands out towards the fire he had started in a garbage can. "You could at least loan us a couple bucks now and then."  
  
"Hey, why don't you guys all become newsies like I suggested you do?" I asked them. "It may not pay the greatest amount, but it's a job, and they'll even let you stay indoors--"  
  
I was interrupted as Damien, the final gangmember with long brown hair held back in a braid, let out a cynical laugh from the depths of the alleyway. "That's a joke," he snorted, glancing over at me from beneath his mahogany bangs. "We ain't made to be hangin' out with any bunch of freakin' strangers. And a newsy is one a the most tedious jobs a guy could have."  
  
"....Well, you don't have to be so unappreciative," I huffed angrily. "I was just trying to help..."  
  
"Let's face it, Eliza, we ain't meant to have jobs," Damien interrupted, casting his gaze away from me. "Some of us worthless bastards were born to just sit in the shadows and waste away."  
  
"...Don't talk like that, it won't be this way forever..."  
  
"This is the way it's been so far."  
  
"Yo, Eliza, you wanna stay with us tonight?" Hiro suddenly asked in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "Ryo managed to swipe some food from the marketplace."  
  
"No, I think I'd better just go home," I replied. "I've been out walking all day, and I just want to go to sleep. You guys take care, ok? I'll see you tomorrow." They all called a farewell towards me, and then I continued down the street.  
  
I stepped inside another alleyway another block or so down to take refuge from the falling snow, then leaned back against the wall and exhaled a weary breath. "...So tired...and cold...and hungry...I wish that--" I let out a terrified scream as a hand suddenly seized my wrist and whipped me roughly around to face a pair of fiery scarlet eyes. I emitted a gasp as I recognized the form of Vincent Valentine, the main I had robbed, standing in the shadows and exerting a tight grip on my left wrist.  
  
"You little thief!!" he snapped angrily, yanking me towards him. "Give me my money back!! Now!!"  
  
"Let go of me!!" I ordered, then let out another frightened gasp as I noticed his other hand, his left one, was replaced with a golden steel claw, like the metallic arm of a wild animal. "What..what that hell...?!"  
  
"I said give it back to me!!" he hissed, meeting my eyes again. "I've spent the last hour searching the goddam city for you!"  
  
"...Nnnn..." I gaped at him in unmasked shock, then yanked on my wrist in a pathetically shaken escape endeavor. "I said let go of me!!"  
  
"My money first!" he demanded nastily, extending his frightful metal claw towards me. A timorous squeal escaped my lips, and immediately I reeled backwards and shielded my face with my free hand. I could feel frightened tears welling up in my eyes, and I whipped my head aside in a desperate custodial position.  
  
"Ok, ok!!" I sobbed piteously, digging into the depths of my shawl and holding his stolen wallet out towards him in a quivering hand. "Here, here, just take it!! I'm sorry!! It's all there, every single penny! I didn't take any, I swear!! Just please don't hurt me!!"  
  
He stared at me in silence for several seconds, as if he was hardly comprehending what was going on. He blinked several times, drifting back into reality, then slowly removed the wallet from my hand and released his hold on my wrist. I immediately tumbled backwards, landing clumsily on my side on the pavement. "...Ughhhh..." I winced slightly at the throb that shot angrily through my hip, then gradually lifted my gaze up to his face. He opened the wallet and gazed inside, counting the money, then eventually shut it and slipped it into his pocket. He suddenly seemed to realize my existence once again, and as his eyes met mine I felt a frightened jolt snap through my bones. ".....I said I was sorry..." I choked raspily, hiding my face and dragging myself defensively against the brick wall. "Please....I just needed the money....I didn't mean to get you so angry....I was just hungry and cold, that's all..."  
  
"Uh..." Vincent seemed rather uncomfortable with my terrified position at his feet, and after several moments of gazing uneasily down at me he gradually lowered himself to a kneeling position at my side. I immediately let out a sharp gasp and drew my shivering arms in against me, staring at his frightening crimson eyes in exposed terror. I felt two apprehensive trails of tears slide down my cheeks. "....No, don't cry," he suddenly told me softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you, see? Here, I'll help you."  
  
I forced myself to swallow, then pushed myself to my feet, seized the handle of my basket, and fled down the alleyway. I could feel Vincent watch after me, now on his feet as well, but I could tell he was not going to make any attempt at following me. A long trail of petals fell behind me, landing lightly on the thin coat of snow that now littered the ground.  
  
I had almost reached the end of the alleyway when suddenly a powerful arm shot out from nowhere, roughly seizing my arm and slamming me brutally into the side wall. I instinctively emitted a stunned scream, but it was immediately stifled by a furious hand clamping over my mouth. I was dazed for several seconds, but as my blurred vision slowly climbed I exhaled a muffled cry as I met the eyes of the drunken man I had met earlier.  
  
"Little bitch!!" he snarled angrily, tightening his grip across my lips. "You think you can get away from me?? You made a big mistake, my dear, and I warned you not ta mess wi' me!!"  
  
I finally managed to wrench my head away from his suffocating grip, and I instantaneously let out a raspy, "Let go of me!!" and struggled furiously against his grip. "Are...are you freakin' out of your mind?! I said let go!!"  
  
"Heheh..." He swayed unsteadily on his feet, but he managed to keep his balance. "Thought you was pretty slick, eh? Thought yous could get away from me, eh...?"  
  
"Let me go, dammit!!" I screamed frantically, jerking violently backwards but unable to dislodge my hands from his grip. "Are you crazy...?!!"  
  
"Little bitch..." he muttered again, and I could smell the intense stench of alcohol lingering in his breath. "You think you was pretty smart, tricking me so easily....Let's see who gets the last laugh..."  
  
"What are--!" I was stopped abruptly by a startled gasp as he reached into his pocket with his free hand and removed a large butterfly knife, which he immediately held only inches from my face in his quivering grip. "....Oh...oh my God..."  
"I've won, you little harlot..." he growled under his breath. "Now give it back to me, before I--"  
  
He was bluntly silenced by a loud clicking noise behind him, and as he slowly turned to face the sound I spotted Vincent over his shoulder, holding a black pistol in both his hands before him. My breaths had turned noticeably harsher and ragged, and I managed to stare over at him in absolute astonishment. "....Vi.....Vincent...."  
  
"...Nnngg..." The man that held me glared unsteadily over at the threatening gunman, and then his face slowly became distorted with rage. "And who do yas think you is...?"  
  
"Drop the girl," Vincent ordered sternly, not moving from his immediate position. "Now."  
  
"Heheh..." The man let out a quiet, intoxicated chuckle, then scowled over at him. "And why..." he dragged me aggressively upward by my wrist, "...do you want to defend such a miserable wretch as this...?"  
  
"I said get away from her," Vincent commanded again, lifting his gun towards the man's face. "Don't question my actions. Just do as I say."  
  
"This girl...she's nothing but a despicable thief..." the drunk continued, holding the knife threateningly close to my throat and causing me to let out a petrified whimper. "I met up wi' her while I was mindin' my own business.....and the next thing I know, she's gone, and my pocket's empty..." He turned back towards me, his blurry, dark eyes boring into mine. "....Now, you wench..." he grumbled angrily. "Give me back my money....all of it, you hear me? Every single coin that you stole from me, understand?"  
  
".....All right...all right....just don't hurt me...." I fumbled clumsily into my clothing, searching for the wallet I had stolen from him earlier and struggling to move against his tight grasp on my hands. "I've got it all....Just let go of me...I can't find it if you keep--"  
  
"You just keep searchin', bitch!!" he shouted, jerking rampageously on my wrists. "Alla it, you got me?! How am I s'posed ta gamble and booze up if some slut's got my damn money...? Whoo, gotta chill out....head's fuzzy..."  
  
"I'm not going to tell you again." A clicking noise sounded out from behind the man as Vincent cocked his gun, and I could feel my captor turn tense. "Let go of the girl and take two steps away from her, do you hear me?" Vincent demanded, still not having moved from his position from earlier. "I truly insist you listen to me....the girl might be squeamish at the sight of blood."  
  
"You know what...?" The drunkard exhaled an aggravated snort, then slowly turned towards him. "I've hadda just about enough of your orders!! Now get outta here before I slit this bitch's throat just ta spite yas!!"  
  
"Oh God.....!!!.." I sobbed deplorably, my voice cracking pathetically from distress.  
  
"Release the girl and get your money back," Vincent retorted in an unnaturally calm tone of voice. "I'm sure it would be a great deal easier to continue on your way drinking and gambling with your head still attached."  
  
I could hear the two of them continue exchanging threats, then my eyes sluggishly fell to the flower basket at my feet. At first I had to stare at it for several incoherent moments, then gradually bent to the side and managed to seize its handle softly between my fingers.  
  
Fortunately, the dipsomaniac was too disoriented and too occupied with Vincent to notice my subtle movement. "I said get outta here!!" he yelled turbulently, his eyes now completely focused, to the best of their ability on the handsome man at the entrance the alley. "You think yous can just--"   
  
He stopped as I unexpectedly jerked in his hands, and he immediately spun about to face me once again. As soon as his entire countenance came into view, I swung the basket in my quivering hand with all my force, clubbing him directly across the face and sending a whirlwind of flower petals spiraling into the air. He uttered a surprised grunt and staggered several feet backwards, and I suddenly felt my wrist slip free of his grip. I contiguously tossed the basket to the ground, whirled about, and dashed madly towards the opposite end of the passageway, where I ducked behind the corner and continued running.  
  
The man clutched his face in shock for several seconds, then emitted an aggravated growl, regained his balance, and took off directly after me. "Think you can escape me, bitch!!"  
  
Panting, I drew in a fierce gasp as I came to a dead end. I had managed to flee another five or so blocks by way of the back pathways, and somehow I had taken an incorrect turn and ended up before a tall brick barrier. Several seconds passed, and I had almost succeeded in convincing myself that I was safe when a familiar snickering noise came from behind me. Immediately I whirled about, and I felt a powerful impact convulse through my bloodstream as I spotted the drunk staggering clumsily into the entrance of the alley.  
  
"I warned you..." he huffed, glaring over at me with an amused expression masking his complexion. "I told you that you should watch your ass....cuz your attitude was gonna get chas hurt....Things like that happen to pretty girls everyday....heheh..."  
  
"...N...no..." I stammered fearfully, backing myself towards the all. "Please don't hurt me..."  
  
"Thought you could get away, eh?" he questioned sarcastically, slowly approaching me. "Thought you was so smart....when the entire way you ran...was mapped out by your footprints in the snow...?"  
  
"No.....!!" Tears dripped pathetically down my face, dropping to the ground beneath my feet. I could now see the glimmer of his butterfly knife, still clenched in his fist, in the misty lighting. "...You...you can't do this...!"  
  
"You won't feel a thing, pretty lady..." he sneered, now only maybe a foot or so from me. He placed the dagger lightly against my neck. "Oh sure, you can guess what happened....but while it occurs, I'm afraid you'll be senseless..."  
  
I screamed as he gave me a swift slash across the cheek and then transversely on my upper torso, then seized my collar and lashed me violently to the ground. Blood splattered to the snow in contrasting red droplets, and I could feel more lacerations forming on my arms and back as the knife whistled above my head several more times. My voice choked miserably in my throat, and I felt the tears streaming down my face. "Help me!!" I finally managed to shriek before my speech dissolved once again into a sob, screech, and silence. "Someone, please!! Can't anyone hear me??!! Help me, please!!!!"  
  
*****  
  
I sputtered, sending several more drops of blood sprinkling to the snow.  
  
I slowly drifted back into consciousness, revealing a blurry portrait of the scarlet blanket of frost beneath me and the numerous bruises and abrasions raked across my arms sprawled in front of me. My head pounded pathetically with agony, and with a shallow moan I forced myself to lift my head. Tears still streaked uninterrupted down my cheeks, and judging by the echoes sounding around me I must have continued screaming despondently even as I had laid unconscious. I could feel that much of my clothing had been brutally torn away, and I could see the scraps of cloth littering the ground around me. My body burned with several unseen wounds, and my blond hair hung limply before my eyes and around me.  
  
I completely understood what had happened.  
  
I was still choking on my pathetic sobs, and my head slowly fell back to the bloody ground around me. I couldn't tell how long I had been unconscious, since I had no concept of time and the lighting around me had all faded into a painful, throbbing glare through the vicious pounding within my skull. I cried aloud again, my voice echoing around me, but no one came to my aid. The snow still fell lightly around me, like soundless drops of cotton, and the world about me was strangely silent with the exception of my occasional desperate wails. I was completely alone in the alleyway, muddled and suffering, surrounded by several thin trails of my own blood.   
  
The drunken man had obviously departed a long time before, judging by the fact that I could no longer see his footprints in the snow around me. The city seemed to have quieted, depressingly silent and suffocatingly still through the translucent sheet of falling snow. No one could hear my wretched laments. No one could help me.  
  
My mind sent a panicked series of jumbled, uncontrolled messages through my brain as it finally seemed to piece together my situation, and another sob escaped my lips as I could see what I knew the man had done to me while I had fainted. Suddenly a gleam caught my eye, and I soon could recognize the shape of the man's butterfly knife laying before me in the snow. I stared at it incomprehensibly for several seconds, choking in my own stifled wails, then slowly reached forward and took its hilt gently into my hands. Its icy, metallic texture felt cold against my numb skin, and I held the blade delicately before my eyes. I then tediously laid the edge against my wrist, just beneath the palm of my hand, and after a few seconds of disjointed hesitation I slashed it expeditiously across my skin in one swift, sudden motion, then watched as the blood seeped through the wound and began to trickle to the ground. The flow grew steadily faster, and I felt myself growing increasingly weaker.   
  
I collapsed dimly to the snow, which had turned a significantly darker shade of scarlet, and felt my eyes slowly closing. My ears became noticeably deafened by the overpowering silence about me, but through the tumultuous commotion surrounding me I could faintly hear the sound of approaching footsteps, crunching over the newly-fallen snow. There was a brief pause as the sound continued to approach me, but it gradually grew muted as I began to slip away into unconsciousness. All at once a dark shadow fell around me, and I could faintly see the form of a tall silhouette standing above me against the blinding glare of the dim lighting about me. The figure didn't move, only stared motionlessly down at me.   
  
I couldn't move, not anymore. The carpet of blood surrounding my immobile body grew consistently larger, and my panting, fading breaths created small clusters of mist in the icy air. "..........Help me........" I whispered softly, almost inaudibly. ".....Please don't leave me.......don't let me die......" With that, my eyelids fluttered shut, and the last thought in my hazy mind was that they might never reopen again.  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Two  
  
Wake up!!  
  
"Ughh..." My head was still aflame with a powerful burning sensation, and my body had turned limp from my lack of blood. "...I...I can't..." I replied softly to the coaxing voice. "...I'm...I'm so tired...just leave me alone..."  
  
Open your eyes!! Look around you!!  
  
"Nnggg...not so loud..." I choked. "My head...it hurts so much....just let me sleep..."  
  
You're alive!! Stand up!  
  
"...Stop it..." I cried through gritted teeth, bracing myself from the flaming agony that spread through my bones. "Stop calling to me....I just want to rest....I want everything to go away..."  
  
You didn't die! Get to your feet!   
  
"............No...no, I can't do it....Not after that.....Just let me forget everything....."  
  
You can stand! Do it!  
  
Though my eyes remained sealed, I felt icy hands slip beneath my arms and begin to pull me up. Around me I could feel the frosty touch of what felt like water, and as I was drawn up out of it the pain in my body angrily burned and writhed. "...Let go of me...!" I ordered weakly, slumped tiredly in the unobserved person before me. "..I...I won't...! Let me be...leave me alone...!!"  
  
Open your eyes!! See where you are!!  
  
"Ahh--!!" I drew in a breathless gasp as my eyelids flew open and I sat straight upwards. Panting, I slowly directed my indistinct vision about me, then clutched a shaking hand against me. "....Oh my God..." I breathed unsteadily, my eyes wide. ".....Where...where am I...?"  
  
The persuasive female voice that had beckoned me only a few seconds earlier had completely disappeared, and I emitted a frightened scream as a small cemetery gradually came into view below me. "Christ in heaven!! I'm dead!! I'm having one of those goddam out-of-body experiences!!"  
  
My heart hammered mercilessly in my chest, and I forced myself to calm as I noticed my view into the graveyard was through a large window that I was now sprawled in front of. I was at least a story or two above the burial ground, which was maybe only ten or so feet wide situated in the space between the building I sat in and the one to the left and contained maybe twenty or so simple gravestones. I gazed down at it for several seconds in surprised noiselessness, then slowly shifted my sight to my surroundings.   
  
I was laid on my back atop a scarlet-colored couch, worn and faded with age, facing out towards the large pane of glass before me overlooking the cemetery below. I soon realized why my sight had been so limited--my right eye was completely covered by a long bandage that had been wrapped around my head several times and ended across my forehead. I was covered by several layers of bedspreads, then drew in a gasp as I noticed I was refreshingly naked beneath the sheets. "Wh--" I gaped down at myself for several seconds, eyeing the crimson dagger wounds that were slashed randomly over my pale skin--most of which were also covered by bloodstained compressions--and then my eyes slowly dropped to my left wrist. It to had been wrapped with several layers of ensanguined gauze, most of which continued on almost down to my elbow. It still burned when I moved it, and I stared blankly down at it for a number of moments. I suddenly exhaled a sorrowful sigh and shut my eyes. "....I remember now...." I whispered softly, forcing myself to stifle the tears that threatened to escape my blurry eyes. "...I remember it all....everything that happened.....I was caught in the alleyway...that man drew out his knife...and....." I stopped and slowly opened my eyes again, keeping them stuck groggily on my bandaged wrist. ".......................I don't want to be alive........" I choked quietly. ".....Why aren't I dead...? Why didn't I die...? Who in their right mind could ever have decided to save me...?" My wrist dropped limply back down to the sheets around me, and I gazed back over at the peaceful cemetery again.  
  
I'm not sure how much time elapsed, or how long I had been staring silently out at the graveyard at the base of the building I was in. My hands felt sickeningly cold against my exposed bosom, and my reeling mind struggled pointlessly to piece together how I had ended up in my position.  
  
All at once I heard a door open behind me.  
  
I emitted a alarmed scream and whirled about, immediately throwing and holding the layers of blankets against my naked chest. I covered my mouth with my free hand as I caught sight of the startled form of Vincent Valentine, standing towards the ajar door leading into the apartment and staring over at me in shock. He blinked several times, gaping at me, then slowly shut the door. "....You're awake....?"  
  
"...Guuh.....Guuuuuuhhhhhh..." I gawked over at him in absolute terror, then forced myself to leap to my feet and kept the sheets protectively wrapped around me. ".....Y....you...!!!!"  
  
".......Yes, me," Vincent replied confidently, staring over at me through his frightful red eyes. "...Calm down, don't get so worked up. It's ok."  
"Ok??!!" I screamed in panic, staggering several feet backwards. "And what part of this, exactly, can be classified as 'ok'??! What are you doing here??! Why did you save me?! What do you want?! And why did you undress me, you pervert!!"  
  
"Easy, easy," he coaxed, holding a hand out towards me. "You're in no condition to--"  
  
"Don't touch me!!" I ordered sharply, immediately causing him to draw back.  
  
"All right, all right, I won't touch you," he replied. "Just don't go insane. I won't hurt you. I saved you."  
  
"Oh, yeah?! Why?!" I demanded angrily, backing up again. "What in hell could possibly have possessed you to--"  
  
"I couldn't just leave you. Despite your first impression of me, I actually do have morals."  
  
"I slit my damn wrist for a reason!!" I shouted. "Why didn't you just let me die??! I never did anything charitable towards you!"  
  
"Calm yourself, please. Such anger might cause you to--"  
  
"And where are my clothes, you lecher?!" I interrupted. "Damn you, you're no better than that lousy bastard who did this to me in the first place!! How am I supposed to know what you did to me while I was asleep??!"  
  
"Your clothes were completely torn and bloody. Infection might have resulted if they weren't removed."  
  
"Why...why are you doing this...?" I stammered despondently, now completely against the wall. "I gave you back your stupid money.....Why are you....uuuuggghhhhh...." All of a sudden I swayed unsteadily on my feet, then dropped weakly to my knees. My breaths had become ragged, and my legs seemed incapable to support my weight any longer.  
  
"...See, I told you." Vincent slowly approached my side and knelt down, then reached a hand out towards me.  
  
I let out a shallow cough and glared over at him through my one eye. "....I....I don't need you...I'm fine...."  
  
"You're still incredibly weak from your significant loss of blood," he told me. "You won't be able to do much anything for a while. Your physical wounds might be mostly healed, but your psychological scars might not amend quite as quickly..."  
  
I stared over at him in silence for several seconds, then exhaled a weary breath and lowered my eyes to the floor. ".....I.....I said I'm fine...."  
  
".........Well, do what you want." He stood and walked back towards the direction from which he had come. "But as soon as you faint, I'm putting you back on that couch."  
  
I glanced up towards his back, then brushed aside several loose, knotted strands of my hair. "....Why...why are you doing this...?"  
  
He didn't reply for several seconds and stood silently, then seemed to regain his senses and continued with what he was doing. ".......I'd be a lower creature than I already am if I deserted a wounded, unconscious girl alone out in a snow storm....especially one that had just...been...." His voice gradually dissolved into silence.  
  
I didn't reply. My eyesight slowly fell to the floor, then to the bandages about my wrist. I slowly closed my eyes in order to stifle the tears that threatened to escape and began to nervously fidget with a strand of my disheveled hair.  
  
"....Here." A large white bathrobe suddenly fell across my lap, and Vincent turned and continued with his task at hand. "You'd better put that on before you catch a cold."  
  
I watched after him as he casually exited the room, then cautiously shifted the sheets from around me and wrapped the robe over my shoulders, slipped my arms into the sleeves, and tied the belt about my waist. It was much to big on me; the sleeves fell several inches past my fingertips, and the bottom fringe hung down to my shins. I pulled my hair from the collar and slowly shifted to my feet, bracing myself against the powerful wave of nausea that washed over me. ".......Uggghhh....so dizzy...."  
  
".....Are you thirsty...?"  
  
I glanced up and met Vincent's scarlet eyes, and then my vision gradually fell to the glass of steaming herbal tea he was now holding out towards me.  
  
"....You must be at this point," he continued, slowly reaching forward, taking my wrist, gently placing the mug in my hand. "You've been unconscious for almost a week. You lost a great deal of blood..."  
  
I gazed nervously down into the cup, then back up at his face. "....And how do I know I can trust you? You could've drugged this so I'll faint again and you can--"  
  
"If that's what I wanted to do, why didn't I do it why you were unconscious in the first place?"  
  
I stared over at him in silence for several seconds, then slowly lifted the glass to my lips and took a cautious sip. I hesitated for a number of moments afterward, tasting the drink, then took another sip. I immediately froze as I noticed his enigmatic eyes locked on my face. "...What?"  
  
He didn't reply for a while, then exiled a sigh and cast his gaze aside. ".....Nothing. Why don't you sit down?"  
  
I kept my eyes on his face but slowly shifted my body over to the couch I had awakened on and sank down into the cushion. "...Thanks. Now, what do you want from me?"  
  
".......A name might be nice," he answered. "It's Eliza, correct? I heard that group of men calling you that before I found you."  
  
I nodded, then hesitated and shook my head, exhaling a sigh. "......No, actually, it's Allie. Eliza's just my 'street name,' if you will. I.....With the job that I have, I thought it would be better if no one knew my actual name. ..........You're Vincent, right? Vincent Valentine?"  
  
He whirled around to face me in shock. "How did you--"  
  
"Relax. I read it off your ID." I let out another sigh, then gazed towards my wrist again. "....About that....did you search through my shawl?"  
  
"No..."  
  
"You should. In...inside it....there's 75 gil. I...I never gave it back. I didn't think you'd notice." I closed my eyes, then took another sip of the tea. "...I'm....I'm sorry.....about that. Selling flowers isn't exactly the best paying job in the world. The only way I could afford to survive was to steal money from potential customers. I...I really do feel bad about it, and...and I'm sorry. And....and thank you...for saving my life..."  
  
He stared at me in silence for probably close to a minute and a half, then said, "....Allie, could you do something for me...?"  
  
"Huh...?" I blinked. "Wh..what...?"  
  
"...Your hair....pull it back into a ponytail for a second."  
  
"What??"  
  
"Please. Just let me see."  
  
".....Umm..." I slowly lifted my hands, took my hair, and held it behind my head in a disarrayed clump. "..There. Now what--"  
  
He gazed at me expressionlessly for several moments, then slowly lifted his frightening metallic claw to his face. Numerous more seconds of silence elapsed, and then I could see his sharp, sorrowful eyes staring out at me from between his fingers. ".....................No........why won't you let me be......why won't you leave me alone...?"   
"...Wh..what??" I gaped over at him in surprise, then pressed myself back against the couch, dropping my hair and seemingly awakening Vincent from some sort of preoccupation. "....No...You're insane...What...what the--"  
  
"........Thank you," he finally said, ignoring my terrified babbling and dropping his hand from his face. "I'm sorry, that must have seemed like a rather unusual request..."  
  
"Damn straight that was a--"  
  
"..........It's impossible..." he murmured to himself, standing and walking unsteadily towards the kitchen. His voice was quiet and barely audible, but I could feel it burning in my ears. "I must be going insane........there is no way that--...yes, that's it......I simply see her face and hear her voice everywhere...there is nothing different about this..."  
  
"....W...wait a second, you!" I cried, shifting myself forward. "What are you talking about? Who? What? What's the matter with you??"  
  
"....It's nothing..." he repeated, brushing aside several loose strands of hair that dropped into his face from his scarlet headband. "Just don't worry about it...."  
  
Ask about Lucrecia.  
  
"Who??" I snapped nastily, causing Vincent to turn and face me again. "Ask about who??"  
  
He gaped at me in silence. ".....I....I didn't say anything...."  
  
"...What...?" I blinked several times, then heard the voice inside my skull a second time. I recognized it this time--it was the same female voice that had beckoned me in unconsciousness. I covered my ears, trying to listen to the voice. "What...? Am....am I flipping out...?"  
  
"..............Allie, what--"  
  
"Lucrecia??" I asked the voice. "Ask about Lucrecia? Who in the world is--"  
  
I was silenced as a loud shattering noise came from behind me, and all at once I drew in a startled gasp and whirled about. Immediately I noticed Vincent, standing maybe three or four feet from me, staring straight through me with terrified crimson eyes and his mouth half open. He had dropped a mug of tea to the floor, sending numerous shards of glass splintering to the carpet. I gazed back at him for several seconds, then slowly lifted a hand to my chest. "....Wh...what--"  
  
"Who are you?" he interrupted me quietly, continuing to gape at me. "What do you want? Who sent you?"  
  
"...Wh...what the hell are you babbling about?" I questioned frightfully, slinking back a foot or two. "Have you flipped or something? What in the world--"  
  
"How did you know that name?" he snapped rather nastily. "Are you purposely attempting to drive me insane?? It's bad enough that you already look almost..............No, no, enough, Vincent, you've said enough....Allie, how do you know Lucrecia?"  
  
"Who...?" I blinked several times, still withdrawing slowly. "How do I know--"  
  
"Lucrecia!! The name you just said, dammit!!" His sudden fit of rage sapped away as spontaneously as it had come, and he exhaled a weary breath and leaned weakly back against the bookcase behind him. "......Forgive me......How do you know that name...?"  
  
"...I--" I gradually lifted one hand to my ear again and blinked. "...I...I don't know....I...I think I'm going crazy....I'm hearing voices...." I slowly lifted my vision to his face. "........Who is--"  
  
"...........No one," he replied immediately, turning his back and raising a hand to his sweating face. "No one at all........Don't ask me again...."  
  
I watched after him in shock as he slowly managed to saunter away into the kitchen, and then my body fell to a sitting position onto the couch behind me.  
  
He never emerged.  
  
*****  
  
"....Ugghhh...." I stirred, then gradually fluttered my eyelids open. With an incoherent moan I managed to push myself up onto my elbows and gaze around me, then recognized the form of Vincent Valentine's living room about me. Everything had turned dark and silent with unexpected nightfall, and after counting the number of chimes that sounded from the grandfather clock in the hallway I could tell it was well after midnight.  
  
I was sprawled on the couch I had awakened on beforehand, and I had most likely collapsed from exhaustion judging by the fact that I had been sleeping atop the crumpled sheets and blankets. Everything was unusually still and dismal, and no signs of any sort of life were evident; it seemed as if Vincent had disappeared completely when he had entered the kitchen.  
  
I slowly pushed myself to my feet, swayed for a second, then straightened the robe about me and pushed back my hair. Immediately I felt the presence of the bandage still encircling my right eye and tore it away, dropping it to the carpet beneath me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the gauze about my left wrist, slightly stained with dried blood, and a feeling of depressed nausea washed over me.  
  
I'm not sure how long I remained in that position beside the couch, but I eventually forced myself to stagger my way over to the large window and place a hand against the cold glass. Several streetlamps and other illuminations from surrounding buildings were still slightly visible through the continuous wall of falling snow, but no other movement stirred the silent street; it remained still and rigid, like a depressing oil painting. Below I could still faintly see the small cemetery, refreshingly melancholy and motionless, with its gravemarkers scattered randomly amongst the white soil. My mind fell to the wound on my wrist, pressed gently against the icy window, and my eyes fluttered shut with jumbled meditation. ....There....that's where I want to be buried......It's so quiet and peaceful, like heaven......That's where I should be now.......I shouldn't be alive.... My soft breaths left a stain of mist on the glass.  
  
I gradually turned from the window, then leaned back against it and gazed rearward into the dark room once again. It remained untouched, like I had seen it earlier, cloaked in a protective sheet of dense blackness. I glanced back and forth several times, then wrapped the robe around me tighter to my body and slowly walked forward, then down the small hallway to my right.  
  
The clock sounded again, much closer now, and the floor creaked softly beneath my bare feet. Down the corridor I could see a partially ajar door leading into what looked like the master bedroom, and suddenly my thoughts fell to Vincent. What is he doing...? I thought sadly. Why is he letting me live? Why didn't he just let me bleed to death in the alleyway? And now he's letting me stay here.....? I know nothing about him, but he acts like he's known me all his life.... I stared towards the room for several seconds, listening to see if I could hear any sound of ragged breaths or any other proof of sleep, but none came.   
  
I stopped as I noticed a small bathroom to my right, then slowly entered and only to some extent closed the door. I immediately spotted the dark, eerie form of my reflection in the circular mirror above the sink, frightfully unfamiliar in the murkiness about me. I exhaled a quiet laugh at my disheveled appearance, then leaned forward to get a better view. "Disgusting..." I muttered wearily, flicking a limp strand of my blond, knotted hair before my eyes. I stared at my image for several more minutes in silence, then slowly leaned over and twisted the knobs on the sink, spilling out lukewarm water. I exhaled a sigh and cupped my hands, then bent at the waist and lifted the water to my face. It was relievingly warm against my cold skin, and I could feel it slithering off my countenance in smooth droplets.   
  
I had doused my face with at least half a dozen handfuls of water before I, still bent over the sink, reached forward and shut off the faucet then blindly groped to my left until my dripping fingers seized a soft towel hanging beside me and tore it off its rack. Sputtering softly, I lifted it to my face and wiped it dry, then pushed back my hair, stood, and opened my eyes. Instantly I emitted a terrified scream and leapt backwards as the dark, uncanny form of a young woman with long, tousled blond hair up in a disarrayed ponytail and unnaturally pale skin glared at me with sharp blue eyes behind a pair of wide-rimmed glasses from the mirror. Her ghastly complexion was littered with several droplets of blood, and the white lab coat and green dress she was wearing were spattered with scarlet blotches as well. Her pale azure eyes were frightfully unfocused and furious, hidden beneath several loose strands of loose blond hair that had fallen across her colorless countenance.  
  
At my sudden, frightened movement the mirror fell from the wall and crashed to the floor, shattering and sending countless numbers of glass shards scattering about the white tile. Panting in terror, I stumbled backwards into the wall, staring down at the smashed mirror at my feet, then lifted a shaking hand to my mouth. I heard a thudding sound coming from down the hallway, and all of a sudden the door flew open and an icy hand seized my wrist. "Allie?!"  
  
I instantly let out a terrified shriek and lashed out towards the figure, but my attack was caught by the form's other hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!" the silhouette exclaimed, holding both my hands firmly down next to me. "Calm down!! It's ok!! It's me, it's me!! Can't you see me??"  
  
My breaths refused to stop heaving and my heart wouldn't return to its normal pace, but slowly my vision decided to focus, revealing the startled face of Vincent staring down at me in the darkness. I felt icy tears dripping down my cheeks, and I lifted a hand to my pounding heart and the other to my face. "........Oh.....oh my God....." I whispered shakily, my voice cracking from suppressed wails. "...oh my God.....Oh Christ......I....I thought....oh my God...."  
  
"What?" Vincent questioned speedily. "What is it? What's the matter??"  
  
"....Uhhhh...uhhh..." I stared perplexedly down at the glass on the floor, keeping one palm over my heart and attempting to calm myself. ".....There.....there was a woman....! In...inside the mirror!! I....I just got up to wash my face and....and all of a sudden there was this woman....glaring at me from the mirror...!"  
  
Vincent watched my face in silence for several seconds, then slowly bent at the waist and lifted the broken frame from the floor, sending several remaining shards of glass tinkling to the tile. He raised it to his face, gazing at his dark reflection in the few lingering, triangular fragments of broken glass. "........I don't see anything."  
  
"......Wh...what??" My head snapped up to face him, and immediately afterwards I leapt forward and brought his hands down so I could see my own reflected image. "................No!! She was there!! I swear to God!! I....I can still see her! She...she was so pale....and was covered in spots of blood...! And her hair...her blond hair was all ruffled and falling out of her ponytail.....and her blue eyes were--"  
  
Vincent spontaneously drew back in alarm, dropping the mirror to the ground once more. I immediately whirled about to face him, and I could see his frightened scarlet eyes gaping at me in the darkness. I could faintly see his body quivering, and all at once I lifted a hand to my throat and gawked at him in absolute terror. ".....She.....she looked almost.....dead....."  
  
No sooner had the words escaped my lips that Vincent was suddenly driven into a fit of rage. I emitted a terrified scream and leapt backwards as he unleashed a tortured shout and began to tear at his hair and hold his hands over his ears, staggering backwards and leaning weakly against the wall. "NO!!! NO!!!" he howled, squeezing his eyes shut. "No more!!! Anything but this!!!! Why won't you leave me alone!!!! Why won't you let me die??!!"  
  
I remained huddled in the corner, both shaking hands pressed up against my heaving chest. I watched him continue to yell at some unseen torturer, begging for mercy and growing increasingly weaker as his agony continued. He finally collapsed to his knees, panting, sending numerous drops of sweat splattering to the tile. I couldn't speak, but I continued to watch him gasp pathetically for air until I slowly forced words from my lips. "......Who?" I choked quietly, barely audible. "....who was it, Vincent? Do you know who I saw...?"  
  
"No one!!!!" he screamed, his face completely hidden by his long, sweaty black hair. "It was no one!!! I told you not to ask me again!!!!"  
  
"..................................Lucrecia....?" I whispered in a sudden realization, backing up several more inches. "That woman in the mirror.........was that Lucrecia....?"  
  
Vincent's breaths turned advancingly more ragged, and he emitted another agonized shout, lifting his quivering hands to his face. "Why you??!" he snapped nastily. "Why do you torture me like this??!! Are you trying to kill me??!!"  
  
It took several seconds for me to realize he was referring to me, and I could not stifle the resulting jolt that snapped through my body. "...........I........I don't know, I've never heard of--"  
  
"Why??......Why...????" His voice gradually grew less furious and more pleading, as if he were begging for mercy. "I can't get away from her....why should I try...?"  
  
I stared at him in terrified silence, afraid to speak, afraid to leave. All I could hear were his ragged panting for at least five minutes more, and then suddenly with an exhausted, "....Ughh..." Vincent shoved back his hair and swayed falteringly to his feet. He lifted his head in order to locate my position in the corner, revealing his flushed, sweaty face. He gazed over at me in silence for several more seconds, slowly beginning to catch his breath, then exhaled a fatigued sigh and walked past me deeper into the bathroom. "......I'm going to take a shower," he told me after an extended pause, starting to undo the buttons on his black shirt. "....I...I think I could really use one about now..." With that he turned his back, and after gaping at him for several more seconds I took it upon myself to shift to my feet and cautiously exit the bathroom. After I cleared the doorway I turned back around to face him, and I watched him gaze at me through his deep, crimson eyes for several moments, obviously deeply immersed in some sort of meditation, then exhaled another sigh, closed his eyes, and softly shut the door.  
  
*****  
  
It had to be close to five in the morning when the loud flow of water coming from the bathroom finally stopped, and at least another twenty minutes or so had to elapse before Vincent, with damp hair and now wearing another black shirt and pair of pants, finally emerged, sending a large cloud of steam spilling out into the cold hallway after him. He wrapped the towel he was holding over his shoulders, then cast one glance around him, lowered his eyes to the floor, and let out a sigh, shaking his head. He slowly turned and walked towards the living room, then drew back with a startled jolt as he noticed my silhouette sitting in the middle of the carpet, bathed in the increasing pale sunlight from the large window and casting a long shadow across the floor. I didn't look up for a second and continued with the sewing of my torn dress and shawl in my hands, then slowly directed my vision up towards his face. We exchanged glances for several seconds before I suddenly whispered, "...........Thought I was going to leave, didn't you.....?"  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Three  
  
Vincent had left close to three hours earlier for whatever occupation he happened to have, and in the meantime I had continued mending the large dagger holes that had been made in my clothing. It had taken me close to an hour to clean the remaining blood stains out of them, and the sewing was taking equally as long, if not longer. My fingertips had become covered with small needlepricks, and every couple of seconds I found myself licking the blood from my hands. The apartment had turned chillingly quiet, with the exception of the eerie chiming of the grandfather clock in the hallway, but it had lightened up quite a bit, and through the window I could see that the snow storm had finally stopped.   
  
I exhaled a breathless sigh, then let out a quiet, "Ouch!" as I accidentally stabbed myself with the needle again. I flipped a loose strand of my blond hair over my shoulder and continued sewing, then immediately stopped as I felt a foreboding jerk shoot through my veins, causing my to drop everything in my hands. I stared blankly down at my fallen clothing, then slowly turned towards the window. ".............Someone's here..........." I whispered softly, gradually shifting to my feet and slowly walking over towards the pane of glass. "...............I don't know how I can tell.......but I can feel them........Who is it....?"  
  
I pressed my hand up against the window and gazed downwards, surveying the surrounding landscape. The road was strangely deserted, and even the snow lining the pavement remained unusually untouched. Nothing stirred, even though I could feel the glass shudder beneath my palm from a passing breeze, and gradually my vision fell to the small graveyard. I emitted an internal gasp as I spotted the form of a man, probably in his mid-twenties, with short black hair and clad in a heavy ebony coat, sitting atop one of the gravestones and staring up at me. As soon as he noticed my presence at the window, he slowly raised his hand and motioned for me to come down.  
  
Immediately I drew back, clasping a hand over my heart and trying to stop my quivering, then gradually forced myself to take a trembling step forward and peer downwards once again. The man no longer sat on the memorial, but I could see fresh footprints in the snow leading straight towards the door of the building I was in.  
  
I exhaled a terrified gasp and stumbled backwards, lifting a hand to my mouth and listening to my heart pound in my ears. Why am I so afraid...? I thought nervously, gazing out through the window. I....I don't even know who he is....Why is my heart beating so fast....?  
  
I whirled towards the door as a loud knocking came, not from that one but from another seemingly down a flight of steps beyond it, and froze immediately in place. ".............What does he want from me....?" I choked in fear, my voice cracking, as I gradually approached the door with quivering steps. "........What does he want......?"  
  
With shivering fingers I slowly seized the doorknob, hesitated, then speedily tore open the door and gazed outside. As I had suspected, it led out to a short flight of carpeted steps, which fell to a small landing and then curved around the wall and disappeared from my field of vision. I covered my mouth with my hand again as another knock came from the bottom of the stairway, somewhere below the wall to my left. I held my breath and cautiously leaned forward, attempting to hear any further noise, but silence had suddenly ensued. My bare feet felt cold against the icy metallic threshold, and a frigid breeze fluttered up the stairwell, echoing softly like an unseen phantom.  
  
There was a pause, and then suddenly a deep, amused voice came from the doorway below. "........Allie, I know you're there. You can stop pretending you don't think I hear you."  
  
A terrified gasp escaped my lips, and I immediately stumbled backwards and had to cling to the doorpost for support. I staggered clumsily back onto balance, then leaned forward into the stairwell once again. ".....Who.....who's there?!"  
  
"......................Just come down, Allie, I want to talk to you."  
  
"Who are you?!" I shouted unsteadily, praying that my voice wouldn't crack from fear. "What do you want?!!"  
  
"Just come down here, Allie. I won't hurt you."  
  
"Who said my name is Allie?!"  
  
"I know it is."  
  
I drew backwards into the apartment, clutching my heart in terror. Why am I so afraid...? I thought again in panic, swallowing hard and flexing my shaking fingers. I don't know him......how does he know my name....?! "Get out of here!!" I yelled down at him, my voice reverberating on the walls around me. "I don't know who you are, but you'd better leave, now!! My friend Vincent's gonna be back soon, and he'll--"  
  
"He's not coming back. You know that as well as I do. He won't be coming home for at least another couple of hours. C'mon, give me some credit here, Allie."  
  
"Stop calling me that!!"  
  
"What would you rather I call you?"  
  
I fell back into the apartment once more, then managed to seize the door, even though it trembled in my faltering grip. "...He's insane..." I assured myself in a shaking voice. "Just some drunk, that's all.....You know this, Allie, he just staggered in from some bar and is murmuring involuntarily....."  
  
"Don't shut the door, Allie," the voice from the stairwell told me, and immediately I froze in place. "You can't hide from me. I know where you are, every second. I know everything about you. You can't get away from me. That idiot Vincent you were talking about sure seems to be absent-minded--he left this morning and didn't even close the main door down here completely; there's only a screen door, and I'll break it down if you leave."  
  
".....Are......are you insane??!" I screamed despondently, forcing myself to remain on balance by leaning against the postern. "What the hell do you want from me?? I call the goddam police, you miserable--"  
  
"...I wouldn't do that if I were you, Allie."  
  
"Shut up!!" I cried, covering my hands with my ears. "I don't know who you are and this point really don't give a damn, but I want you out of here, now!! I'll call the police, I swear to God I will--"  
"No, you won't," he interrupted me. "If you do, I'll come up there. I'll break down this screen door and come up and get you. I don't want to do that, Allie, come down here and make things easier on both of us."  
  
My hands.....they had turned so cold.....and the bathrobe I wore....had it always been so soaked with sweat?... I couldn't stifle the shuddering that had now spread throughout my entire body, and when I spoke again I could hear how tight my voice had become. "That's it, leave now!! You psycho freak, if I ever catch you around here again--"  
  
"I'm not leaving unless you come with me."  
  
Something about the way his tone never changed made my blood freeze over. He was so unmovingly calm, so undeterred by my increasing panic that my hands had turned clammy against the doorframe. "Leave now, do you hear me??! I'm not going to tell you again--"  
  
"Come down here to me and I'll leave." There was a soft squeaking noise, as if he were leaning against the screen door, and his voice sounded reasonably taunting. "Allie, you wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt, would you?"  
  
I blinked, drawing back. ".....Wh...what...?"  
  
"I know about them all--Damien, Ryo, Hiro, Will, Claude, the rest of those homeless bastards you hang around with--I know every single one of them. You can't hide anything from me, Allie. If you don't come down now, I'll kill them. I'll track them all down and destroy them, one by one."  
  
I backed up, staring blankly towards the bottom of the immediate staircase as if he were in view. ".....You're....you're crazy.....if...if you think for one minute I'll believe any stupid threat like that--"  
  
"....Just a threat, eh...? Care to test the theory, Allie...?"  
  
I felt tears of dread welling up in my eyes, and I held my shaking hands against me. ".....Y...You....... Have you been stalking me....?"  
  
A loud, mocking laugh rose up the stairs, and I heard the screen door creak again. "....Have you ever had the feeling that someone's watching you...? Have you ever thought that someone actually might be...?"  
  
A terrified sob escaped my lips, liberating the tears in my eyes, and immediately I clapped both hands over my mouth and staggered several feet backwards into the apartment. "....That's it!!" I declared in a choked voice, whirling away from the doorway and dashing deeper into the room. "You're out of your mind!! I'm calling the police right now, and their going to drag you off to the asylum where you belong!!"  
  
"Allie, you don't know what you're doing."  
  
"Shut up!!" I seized the phone receiver and attempted to dial some number--any number--by my hands were quivering so much and had turned so numb that I couldn't do anything in my panicked state. "Come on, dammit!!" I whispered furiously to myself through clenched teeth. "Come on, Allie, come on....!!"  
  
I immediately emitted an ear-piercing scream and whirled back around as a series of loud, echoing gunshots suddenly sounded out from the hallway behind me, and I could even see a number of bullet holes that had appeared in the wall above the landing. I lifted my hands to my mouth and let out another terrified shriek, sending two frightened trails of tears streaming down my face and splattering to the floor. Several loud pounding noises came from below, finally succeeded by a tumultuous crashing noise and the sound of a pair of heavy leather boots taking two large steps into the room at the base of the stairs. Several more gunshots rang out, and I could see fiery sparks of electricity in the darkness of the stairwell as many ricocheted off the metallic banister.  
  
The footsteps grew louder now, as if they were now scaling the bottom flight of stairs, and I could see an approaching shadow on the wall above the landing. "I warned you," the man told me, his tone as calm as it had been before, raising his gun and firing numerous more shots into the woodwork before him. "I said if you panicked, I would come up and get you. I didn't want it to come to this, Allie, I really didn't. Why did you force me to do this, Allie...?"  
  
I screamed again, my timorous tears soaking my cheeks and bathrobe, and tumbled backwards, into the bookshelf behind me. Several publications fell to the floor with a dull thud, hardly audible over the earsplitting gunshots and the sound of the man's voice, and my tearing eyes suddenly whipped towards an open volume on the floor. It was a photo album, filled with numerous snapshots of various, unfamiliar people, with the exception of one. I drew in a startled gasp and for a moment seemed rather oblivious to the surrounding chaos as my eyes perused a certain shot of an attractive young woman, with long blond hair held in a ponytail and sharp blue eyes behind a pair of glasses. That's her!! I thought in panic, falling to my knees and lifting the scrapbook to my face. That's the woman from the mirror!! L...Lucrecia...?! Oh my God....she looks just like me....!  
  
I was awakened from my thoughts as a bullet pierced straight through the book in my hands, causing scraps of paper to explode upwards as if caught in a windstorm. I emitted a petrified scream, tossing my head aside and throwing the album to the floor, then slowly forced my vision to climb to the doorway. A tall, ominous figure stood at the top of the stairs, holding a smoking black pistol up by his face.  
  
He was muscular and thin, with short ebony hair falling to the back of his neck and a pair of unnaturally sharp emerald eyes. He wore a zippered black coat and dark gray pants, with a shiny pair of dark boots. At seeing my terrified, tearing face, his face slowly twisted into a mocking sneer. "Don't be afraid, Allie..." he told me with feigned assurance. "Just come with me.....Then you won't have to be scared anymore..."  
  
I began to sniffle involuntarily in a panicked attempt to catch my breath, sending two more paths of icy tears down my face, then held my hands against me and shuffled a foot or two back on the carpet. "....N...no... please...." I whispered hoarsely, shielding my face in a desperate attempt to protect myself. "Please don't hurt me.... Just leave me alone..."  
  
The man's arm suddenly shot forward, sending a series of bullets flying over my head until several struck the lamp behind me, causing it to burst with a fiery eruption of electricity. I immediately threw my arms over my head and let out a terrified scream, choking on my own escaping sobs and fervent pleas for mercy. The man slowly lowered his arm again, then gazed down at my trembling form on the floor. "..............Come with me, Allie," he coaxed, holding out one hand towards me. "Don't make this difficult. I can see how scared you are, how confused. Just take my hand and forget all about it..."  
  
I didn't budge for a second, simply remained shivering and huddled up against the floor, then gradually lifted my head, draped with numerous loose strands of sweaty blond hair and gazed disorientedly at his extended palm before my face. My breaths were heaving and my eyes still released frightened tears. My mind sent a scrambled jumble of random, blurred messages before my face, and for a second I could feel my hand gradually lifting from the floor...  
  
A sudden gunshot sounded from behind the man's back, brushing his shoulder and transforming the large window behind me into a wild spiderweb.  
  
I emitted another screech and the man whirled about, facing the doorway. My eyes suddenly fell to Vincent, who stood atop the flight of stairs with his own revolver aimed straight at the man's face.  
  
"...Next time..." he commanded fiercely, "...I won't miss..."  
  
"...V...Vincent!!" I cried in relief, exhaling a loud breath of ease, clutching both quivering hands against my heaving chest. "Oh...oh my God...!"  
  
The man before me exhaled an impatient snort, then brushed a long strand of black hair from before his green eyes. ".....I don't believe I invited you, my good man...."  
  
"....Well...." Vincent thrust his arm forward, aiming his gun towards the stranger's head, "..Then perhaps I will take my leave!!"  
  
I emitted a terrified scream and covered my ears as he suddenly released a barrage of ammunition, rebounding off the walls, shattering glass. I watched in shock as the man before me held one arm up in front of his face and bent slightly at the knees, shielding himself from the gunfire. Though he wasn't facing me I could hear in his voice that he was now wearing a contented sneer. ".....It seems that your aim isn't quite as good as you made it--" He was silenced as his return fire commenced with a click, and with an aggravated groan he tore the empty cartridge from his gun and tossed it angrily to the floor. His vision snapped angrily up towards Vincent, whose eyes immediately turned wide with horror and his hands that held his weapon trembled for a moment  
  
In the deathly silence that had ensued, I could hear Vincent's panting breaths murmuring, ".....Y.....you....How.....how in the hell...."  
  
"...Hmph." The man breathed out another irritated grunt and tossed his head, flipping another ebony strand of hair over his shoulder, then suddenly shot his hand into his jacket and pulled out a large test tube filled with some sort of turquoise substance. He cast one more glance over his shoulder at my shivering figure on the glass-littered carpet, then with a powerful thrust of his arm hurled the container to the ground, causing an enormous cloud of crimson smoke to erupt and lash around him like a protective fog. I let out another ear-piercing scream and covered my eyes as the smog shot around me in vicious, whip-like motions, blocking my vision, burning my eyes. Faintly through the haze I heard the sound of heavy, retreating footsteps, followed by the loud sound of a door slamming into a wall and the weighty gait continuing speedily down the stairwell. I could dimly hear the noise of another voice hacking through the thick smoke, but I was too preoccupied with my own choking breaths and fiery eyesight. I covered my mouth to protect myself from the suffocating fumes and rubbed at my tearing eyes.  
  
Gradually the dense blanket of smog began to dissipate into a light scarlet mist, and faintly I could perceive a dark silhouette maybe five or so feet away from me, shielding the lower half of his face with the collar of his black coat and emitting a series of rasping coughs. The image progressively turned to face me, still choking on the disintegrating cloud, then took several quick steps towards me and seized my shoulder, giving me several rough jostles. "....Allie!....Allie, are you all right??... Can you hear me, react to my voice!!"  
  
"....Uggghhhh..." I stared blankly up towards the figure's face through blurry eyes, attempting to recognize his voice that had become muffled by the protective collar over his mouth. "......I......I.....ughh..."  
  
"Allie!! Wake up, can you see me??" He shook me again, more violently this time, and slowly the vapor dissolved enough that I could distinguish the pale complexion of Vincent. "Say something, dammit!!" he cried distraughtly. "Don't you recognize me?? Wake up, please--!"  
  
"............I....." I blinked several times, then slowly shifted from his grip and lifted a hand to my face. .....I   
......I think I'm ok....." I gazed blankly down at my palms, slowly drifting back into a state of consciousness. ".....I  
.....I'm still alive......?"  
  
Vincent stared over at me in silence, then hurriedly got to his feet and threw a rather large plastic bag into my lap. "...Here," he ordered firmly, turning his back and walking swiftly into the kitchen. "Take these, now. Don't ask any questions. We'll talk later. I'm getting you out of here, now."  
  
"....What...?" I watched after him for several seconds, then reached into the bag and stared at the clothing I pulled out. "...What are--"  
  
"Just put them on. Now." I could still hear him shuffling around in the kitchen, speedily collecting items and strutting rapidly back and forth. "I said not to ask me anything. Just change into them, right now. We're leaving."  
  
I didn't move for a second, then slowly untied the belt from my waist and shifted the robe down my shoulders. ".............That......that man...." I whispered quietly, glancing slightly to the right so he could hear my voice from his position in the kitchen behind me. "..........Who........who......"  
  
"...I don't know. You're in shock, and you're not thinking straight. Just change into those clothes and let's get the hell out of here."  
  
"....But I--"  
  
"Now."  
  
I cast another glance over my shoulder to check that he was not in the room, then pulled the tight black shirt with large silver letters spelling out EVIL over my head. .....I.....I don't understand....I thought shakily, buttoning the shiny, dark blue jeans about my waist and closing my eyes in jumbled meditation. Who....where ....why.... what.......ughhhh....head's swimming....  
  
"Let's go." Though I hadn't fully recovered from my befuddled state, I could feel Vincent's hand seizing my wrist and pulling me hurriedly out towards the open door, where I can only assume the man had escaped from, since it was swinging loosely on one rusted hinge. "I'll explain everything on the way. And hopefully you can do the same for me."  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Four  
  
I had grown up in the city of Midgar all my life, but never in my eighteen years of existence had I ever seen it look so unfamiliar. All the scenery blended into a vast, snow-covered blur, whisping around me like a soft cloud, and the only proof in my mind that I hadn't died from fright back in the apartment was the reassuring grasp of Vincent's cold hand about my left wrist.  
  
The wind howled about me like a rabid animal, scratching at my skin, screeching in my ears. I could faintly hear the sound of my shoes crunching the snow beneath me, and occasionally I could pick up the vibration of a train in the icy air or a conversation between two unfamiliar people. I continued being lead forward, blind to my surroundings, my free hand clutching Vincent's waving jacket for assurance. ....So cold..... I thought dimly, bracing myself against another lash of a gnawing gale. Where is he bringing me....? Vincent, where are we going...?.........  
  
I came to.  
  
"...Wh...what?!" I gazed around me in shock, sitting up from my lying position down on a cushioned row of seats. "Where....where the hell am I?! What's going on?!" I shifted upright, gazing about me with panicked movements. The seats I had been sprawled out on faced another row of the same, maybe three feet from me, where several confused people gaped over at me in a nervous silence. A young girl, maybe of age four or five, clung to her mother in fright, staring at me with wide, frightened eyes. I stared back at them, my breaths slightly ragged, then pushed aside the blanket that had been resting atop my shoulders and stood. "........I.....I don't know who the hell all of you are, and I really don't care!!" I snapped nastily, forcing myself to stay on balance as a surge of queasiness spread through me. "I don't know what you're trying to prove by--"  
  
All at once the large sliding door to my right flew open, revealing the eerie form of Vincent. He immediately strutted into the room, walked over to me, and clapped a hand over my mouth. "Shhh. Calm down. You're ok, see?"  
  
"Mmmmmmmpphh!!" I struggled violently against him, attempting to break away, but he simply turned to the other frightened family sitting across from me, bowed his head respectfully, and dragged me, still fighting angrily against his grip, out into the hallway, sliding the door shut behind him.  
  
As soon as we were in the safety of the corridor, I tore his hand from my mouth and backed myself up against the wall behind me. "Let go of me!! Are you out of your mind?!"  
  
"Shhhh. Be quieter, please." He lifted a finger to his lips. "You're all right, you must calm down."  
  
"What the hell--! Where am I??! What happened?! What have you done--don't you 'shush' me, mister!! I'll be as loud as I goddam want to, you understand me??!"  
  
"Do you want us to get kicked off??" he questioned firmly, seizing hold of my wrist.  
  
" 'Kicked'....??" I stared up at him in silence, then gradually felt myself regaining my composure. "....Where...where are we...?"  
  
"Why don't you listen for yourself...?" He pointed upwards towards the ceiling, and several seconds later I could hear a tumultuous roaring noise ring from somewhere above me, followed by a whistle and a bell.  
  
".......................A train....?" It took several minutes for my disconcerted mind to piece everything together, but I finally turned to face him. ".....We're on a train...?"  
  
He nodded slowly, unbuttoning the top two clasps of his coat. "...Bound for the Gold Saucer. We should be arriving in approximately half an hour."  
  
"The Gold what?" I clumsily followed him, struggling to keep balance as I could feel the floor moving beneath my shoes, as he began walking in the opposite direction. "Wait a second, you, where--"  
  
"...I have a name, you know," he interrupted irritably, turning slightly so he could see my face. "You think you'd be slightly more respectful towards the person who saved your life."  
  
I stared at him in silence for several seconds, and soon he turned and continued down the hallway. I gazed down towards my feet, then back up towards him. "........I'm sorry."  
  
He stopped, then revolved slightly back towards me. I stared back towards him, then lowered my eyes to the floor once again. I heard him exhale a weary sigh, then slowly turn around completely and head back in my direction. "...The Gold Saucer," he replied, halting maybe two or three feet in front of me. "It's a large amusement park built in a tower in the middle of a desert. The bar I work for is catering there today, and I had returned home just to get some odds and ends when I came upon you and that....stranger. That's the last time I leave you alone."  
  
"Hey, wait a second, I don't need you to be my--" I stopped again, then scratched uncomfortably at the back of my neck. "...I...I mean...."  
  
The train halted suddenly, almost causing me to plunge forward onto my stomach. Vincent gazed calmly upwards, then over towards me, clinging weakly to the wall at my right. "......I guess we arrived sooner than expected..."  
  
I emitted a squeal as the sliding door behind me snapped open and several people rushed out, shoving me roughly until I fell forward into Vincent's arms. I blinked several times, gazing up at him, then shifted to my feet and dusted myself off. ".....I...I....ummm....thanks.....I..I mean...I didn't need you to.........what I mean to say is..."  
  
Vincent gazed over at me, then turned away and began heading towards the exit along with the multitude of other passengers. "......You're welcome."  
  
*****  
  
"Holy crap!!" I gasped in awe, surveying the incredible spectacle surrounding me. After Vincent and I had dismounted the train at a nearby station, we had made a short trip into some broken-down community or other before me boarded a large mechanical trolley suspended on a wire that brought us up to what I could only assume was the Gold Saucer. I now stood in a large entranceway, elaborately lit by chains of multi-colored lights, and faintly before me I could hear a tumultuous din of various noises, ranging from joyful laughter to the loud hum of some distant machinery.  
  
"...Come on." I was awakened from my thoughts as Vincent seized my arm and began to drag me towards the large main doorway, leading into the park. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Let's go."  
  
"Hey, c'mon--!" I pulled against him for a second, then gazed sarcastically up towards his face. "But, daddy, I want a bawwoon!!"  
  
He countenance flushed a faint shade of crimson, and immediately he gave me a rough jerk and dragged me after him. "....Cut it out."  
  
I was too awe-struck by my surroundings to truly pay attention to where he was leading me. The rooms about me was amusingly beautiful, with flickering, rainbow-colored lights and various doors leading to different sections of the park. I had passed several rides that had struck me as entertaining, and within me I could feel a child's curiosity reaching out towards them. I exhaled an internal laugh and gazed towards my feet. What a retard I am.....I want to go on some stupid kiddy rides just because I've never seen them before....Allie, this may be your first trip to an amusement park, but let's hold onto our sanity here, huh?...  
  
".....Here." I was jostled awake as Vincent suddenly stopped walking and I unexpectedly slammed into him. He remained undaunted, but I had to grab for his arm before I was sent sprawling onto my back.  
  
"... 'Here...'?" I glanced around me in confusion, noticing several even rows of betting tables and a large television screen showing clips of various races between bunches of large birds of varying hues and their jockeys. "...And where exactly would 'here' be...?"  
  
".......Don't worry about it." He gazed about him, then noticed a pair of figures standing over by one of the tables, setting up drinks and other various refreshments. He removed his arm from my grip and started over towards them. "...Tifa, Cloud, I'm back."  
  
"..... 'Tifa....'?...... 'Cloud'......?" I had begun to follow him but immediately froze in place. "..............Uh.. .............. oh.................."  
  
"You!!!" A man with spiky blond hair, whom I instantly recognized as Cloud, lunged towards me, and with a squeal I leapt backwards. "You're that goddam little flower bitch!!" he snapped nastily, pointing an accusing finger over towards me. "What the hell do you think you're doing here??!"  
  
"...I--!"  
  
"Wh...what the hell...?!" The girl I knew as Tifa suddenly came up behind me and seized the bottom edge of my shirt. "These...these clothes....They're mine!! Do you steal clothing along with wallets, you little rat??!"  
  
I ducked protectively behind Vincent, who calmly cast a glance over his shoulder down at me. "....You've met them before, I presume...?"  
  
"Give me back my money, you little cheat!!" Cloud demanded angrily.  
  
"...Wh...what money?!" I retorted, not moving from my position behind Vincent's back. "You barely had any, you cheapskate!! How the hell am I supposed to know where I put it?!"  
  
"Then where'd you get my clothes?!" Tifa snapped. "Did you follow me home or something, you lousy--"  
  
"...I believe I am to blame for that," Vincent interrupted. "You had a large bag of clothes you had been thinking of giving to the orphanage at the bar. I figured you wouldn't notice if I swiped a couple to help a girl in need."  
  
"Girl in need my--" Cloud immediately stopped, then turned to face Vincent. "....You...you mean...that you....you helped this little homeless whore...?"  
  
"Hey, you wait just a--" I began angrily.  
  
"...Yes," he replied, gazing back towards me for several seconds and then directing his vision back up onto the pair of them. "I suggest that you attempt to be slightly more amiable towards her, since after she met up with you she happened to undergo a rather...unfortunate accident."  
  
I froze in place, and then my gaze immediately dropped to my feet, where out of the corner of my eye I could see my wrist, now without bandages, resting weakly against my hip.  
  
"....What are you--" Cloud started.  
  
"Oh my gosh!!" Tifa interrupted loudly, covering her mouth with both hands. "You...you mean she was...was...."  
  
Vincent whipped a finger swiftly in a horizontal line across his throat, signaling for her to remain silent. "..................Yes. I'm afraid so. Which is why I have decided to look after her for a while."  
  
".... 'Look after...'?" Cloud blinked several times. "Whoa-HO, Vin-man, you think you're ready to have a chick under your roof?? You won't try anything, will you???"  
  
Vincent glared darkly over towards him and remained silent. I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably, gazing aside. Goddammit...I thought angrily to myself. It figures that out of the whole damn city I gotta meet up with the pair of people I robbed...  
  
I whirled to face the entranceway as all of a sudden a loud commotion of masculine voices could be heard, and all at once a gigantic horde of shouting males rushed into the vast room. As I gaped at them in shock, I could faintly hear Tifa groaning, "....Here they are, right on schedule.....Drunkard, party of five million...."   
*****  
  
"Hey dere, sweetie!!" one dizzy man garbled drunkenly, seizing me around the waist and whipping me around next to him. "You wanna come home wi' me tanight? Haha!!"  
  
"Ewwww!!!" I squealed in disgust, shoving him away from me and staggering several steps backwards. "Stay away from me, you nasty jerk!!"  
  
At least two hours had passed--at least, that's what it felt like--and all the men that were being catered to had turned reasonably intoxicated, so much so that ten brawls must have broken out and several had fainted to the floor. I hadn't seen much of Tifa, Cloud, or Vincent at all since the men had arrived--as a matter of fact, I myself had gotten lost in the vast forest of them, avoiding the punches and alcohol that seemed to be splashing everywhere.  
  
"Here ya go, Jack, five hundred gil on numba 17!!" I heard one man say from behind me, and I picked up the sound of numerous coins clinking to the table. I slowly turned about to gaze towards the cluster of conversing alcoholics to my left, then slowly turned and casually began to approach them.  
  
"Here ya go, baby!!" one dunkard belched from a table towards Tifa. "Hows about a little tip for such a--" He stopped, feeling around in his pocket, then angrily got to his feet. "Hey, what da hell!! My money's all gone!!"  
  
"Eh?" Another man, this one stationed at the betting table, searched through his coat as well. "Dammit, you're right--mine is too!!"  
  
"Huh??" Tifa blinked several times, gazing over at the numerous men that continued searching for their wallets. "What in the world....." She suddenly turned and spotted a dark form casually walking out the entranceway, back into the main section of the park. "Hold it right there, you!!" she shouted angrily, placing down the tray she was holding and dashing straight towards the silhouette. "You're not escaping me twice, you little scumbag!!"  
  
Immediately I whirled around, clutching the several small pouches of money against me, then spun back around on my heel and made a mad sprint out through the large door. Several coins fell from my grasp, clinking to the floor. I leapt down past a staircase onto a lower floor and ran to my right, deeper into the park, and ducked into the protective covering of a vast group of amused people.  
  
Tifa stood at the railing above, panting and attempting to locate my position in the crowd. "...Rrrrrr, Vincent!!" she yelled furiously. "That little bitch doesn't seem to learn very quickly!! Now you come out here and help me look for her!!"  
  
*****  
  
"Whew!!" I gasped breathlessly, gazing back out into the square I had managed to run to. "I...I guess I lost her!"   
  
I had no idea where I had ended up; all I know is that I had managed to escape Tifa's field of vision and duck into a rather small multicolored tent, where I hid in the darkness and surveyed the passersby outside. "Heehee..." I giggled triumphantly, gazing down at the wallets I had succeeding in swiping. "Payload!! Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to come here after all!"  
  
"...But they will find you, will they not...?"  
  
I emitted a startled gasp and dropped several pouches to the floor, then whirled about to face the inside of the tent. All of a sudden two dim candles lit simultaneously, revealing the murky form of a woman sitting atop a pillow towards the back of the recess. She sat amongst a great deal of small treasure boxes and dream catchers, along with other unusual items I had never seen before. She waved her hands over the crystal ball before her, then gazed up at me through her dark glasses. "........Do you want me to read your fortune?"  
  
I stared back her for several seconds, then cautiously placed the pouches of money to the floor and approached her. ".....Umm...I...I guess so..." I replied softly, ducking to avoid a hanging windchime.  
  
"Excellent." She gestured towards a second pillow situated on the other side of the crystal ball across from her. "Then sit down."  
  
I gradually sank down into a kneeling position and eyed her uncomfortably. "Umm...I--"  
  
"Shhhhh!!" she hissed loudly, lifting her hands to the side of her face. "The spirits--they speak!! They can sense a great deal of mystical energy coming from you, my dear."  
  
Oh God, this is such a waste of my time.... "You know what, I think I changed my mind, " I told her, getting to my feet. "I guess I'll just be--"  
  
"They tell me you do not believe," she interrupted, pointing a finger over towards me. "I suggest you do not make conclusions until you hear what I have to say, Allie."  
  
I froze, gaping down at her. "..............How.......how did you--"  
  
"Why don't you have a seat, my dear, and let me read your fortune?" She watched me as got back down on my knees, then extended her hand towards me. "Let me see your palm."  
  
I slowly held my hand out towards her, and she took it in hers and began to study it. "......I can sense something..." she whispered, closing her eyes as she ran her fingers over my palm. "I...I sense....another power.....as if there's someone else here with you...."  
  
"Umm..not that I--"  
  
"Silence!! She speaks!!" She lifted her head. "I cannot hear you, my dear....Speak up..."  
  
"But I didn't--"  
  
"Hush!!" she hissed angrily. "Who are you, my dear? Why do you reside within this girl..?" She closed her eyes and lowered her face to the floor. "Louder, my dear, I still can't hear..... 'Help'..... 'I need help....'....?"  
  
"Ok, lady, I think that I'm going to--"  
  
"This woman within you.....you have heard her name, have you not?" She gazed over towards me, seemingly awakened from her trance. "A man you have become rather close to....He seems to despise this name, doesn't he...?"  
  
"What are you--" I stopped suddenly, gaping over at her in silence. ".................You.......you mean 'Lucrecia...'?"  
  
"....Yes....yes, I can sense her..." The fortune teller raised her face to the ceiling again. "She...she says she needs help..."  
  
".....Who...who is she...?" I asked softly, gazing over towards her.  
  
"Aha!!" I whirled about as Tifa suddenly burst into the tent, followed by Cloud and Vincent. "Thought you could escape me, huh?? We-hell, my dear girl, you're going to march right back up there and give all those men--"  
  
"Silence!!" the woman screamed, thrusting her hand out towards them. "The spirits do not wish to be interrupted!!"  
  
"Spirits?? Ha!!" Tifa scoffed sarcastically. "Ok, lady, you can do all the hocus pocus you want to, but--"  
  
"I am in the middle of contact!!" the woman snapped. "Interrupting again might drive them all into a rage!!"  
  
"Keep talking," I told her softly. "I...I want to know what she wants...."  
  
"Eh...?" Cloud blinked. "Who're talking to?"  
  
The woman released her hold on my palm, then turned and opened a small treasure chest to her right. "It is not important..." She pulled out a deck of Tarot cards, then spread them all face-down before me. "I have lost contact with her. Now I must work myself to find what relation she has to you, my dear girl...."  
  
She reached forward and seized a random card, then held it up for me to see. It depicted a large hooded figure, enveloped in darkness. ".... 'Shadow'...." she said softly, gazing at the picture. "That suggests a stranger of some sort, does it not...?"  
  
I gasped quietly. "...Y...Yes!! Yes it does!! Who is he??"  
  
"This card had been resting atop this one..." She held up a second card, revealing the image of a mirror.   
" 'Reflection'.......was the stranger familiar to you at all, Allie? Did you recognize him from anywhere?"  
  
"Huh??" I blinked several times. "...No, not that I--"  
  
"But then you did, didn't you, Vincent?" she interrupted, turning towards his silhouette at the entranceway. I turned towards him, my hands clasped over my heart.  
  
His expression remained unmoving. ".........Yes."  
  
"Heheh..." She pulled out a final card, revealing a large skeleton holding a scythe. "........ 'Death'.......... My dear girl, I think you're being warned to stay away from this man...." She gazed back over at Vincent, who still hadn't moved. "And it also suggests that you have quite a task on your hands, Mr. Valentine...."  
  
He remained silent.  
  
"....Now," the woman continued, running her hands over the cards before her. "Let's see about this other woman, shall we....?" She closed her eyes, as if listening to some inaudible voice, then took hold of one card and lifted it up to her face. Several seconds of silence elapsed, and suddenly she let out a soft, eerie laugh. ".........I see..." she chuckled quietly. "I understand now...is that what you've been trying to tell me...?"  
  
"What??" I lifted myself up in an attempt to see the card. "Which one is it?? What does it mean??"  
  
She didn't budge for a second, then slowly turned the card to face me. " 'Time'..." she said softly, removing one of her hands to reveal the picture of an enormous clock. "The time card always symbolizes rebirth..."  
  
"Huh??" I blinked. "...I...I don't understand..."  
  
"....No, I suppose you wouldn't," she replied, lowering the card. "After all, you don't seem much like the religious type..."  
  
"Well??" Tifa questioned impatiently from the doorway. "What's it mean??"  
  
The woman remained silent for a second, then slowly shifted her gaze up towards my face. "........You, my dear Allie......." she said softly, pushing down her glasses in order to see me more clearly, ".....are Lucrecia's very own reincarnation."  
  
  
  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Five  
  
I have never felt a silence so dense as the seconds that followed.  
  
My eyes never left the fortune teller's face, who was still staring down with an amused, trace-like delirium at the Tarot card in her hand. My surroundings had turned chillingly still, like a dark arctic tundra, and for a moment I found myself forgetting about everything but my confused thoughts.  
  
I took it upon myself to speak first.  
  
"................................Wh...............what.....?" I stammered quietly, gazing over towards the woman across from me. ".................What........what did you say...........?"  
  
A loud shuffling came from the entrance behind me, and all at once I heard Tifa exclaim softly, ".....Oh, no, Vincent, come back....! Where are you going...? Vincent....!"  
  
I turned in time to see his dark form shove aside the tent flap and storm quickly outside, and Tifa and Cloud immediately directed their eyes to the ground. I stared after Vincent for several seconds, then slowly turned to face the woman once again. Several more seconds of silence ensued, and then gradually I felt a smile creeping up onto my face, followed by a fit of hysterical laughter that grew louder as it progressed. ".....Are....are you insane??!" I choked breathlessly through my giggling. "...Re...reincarnation??! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!! Imagine....me, a reincarnation of some dead woman...! Hahahaha!! Lady, you've completely flipped!!" I got to my feet, shoving aside a hanging dream catcher, and dusted myself off. "I'm outta here, I'm not going to listen to this crap for one more--"  
  
"Do you accuse the spirits of lying?" the fortuneteller questioned nastily, glaring up towards my face.  
  
"...Yeah, yeah, the 'spirits', lady. They always were the dishonest sort." I let out another amused laugh, then turned and headed towards the entranceway. ".......Reincarnation.....that's the stupidest thing I've ever--"  
  
"Deny the truth and those you love will perish." The woman casually shifted the cards before her into a neat pile, then slowly glanced up towards me. "You believe that simply by ignoring it that it will all simply disappear...?"  
  
"You're out of your mind, you hear me??!" I snapped, whirling back around to face her once again. "Who could ever believe any of that rebirth crap??"  
  
"One that knows the truth..." The fortuneteller gently placed the deck back into the treasure chest beside her, gazing towards the ground. "However, I should have expected that you would not believe. But when Rael finds you, all will come clear..."  
  
"You are the--" I stopped suddenly, gazing down towards her. "........R....Rael....? Who's--"  
  
I was silenced as suddenly her head snapped up towards me, and all at once she raised her arms above her. "Do you hear??" she shrieked loudly, closing her eyes. "The spirits....they despise the infidel!! They are demanding just punishment!! They screech for your blood!!"  
  
I emitted a terrified scream and whipped my hands in front of my face as a powerful blast of wind lashed around my body and I could hear the piercing noise of a choir of unearthly voices howling in my ear. I could feel the presence of numerous invisible beings swirling about me, bellowing shrilly in my ears, clawing at my clothes.  
  
I forced my eyes open, and all at once the windstorm stopped.  
  
Panting, I slowly lowered my arms from before my eyes and gazed around me. The tent was unusually silent and dark, with the exception of several wind chimes and dream catchers swaying lightly in the murkiness, and as my eyes fell to the pillow across from me I could tell that the woman was no longer there.  
  
*****  
  
He had not moved.  
  
Vincent and I sat alone in the mechanical trolley as it moved silently down the wire, and behind me I could see the elaborate form of the Gold Saucer gradually disappearing from sight. Tifa and Cloud had stayed behind to assist in the cleanup, but they had insisted that both Vincent and I return back to his apartment. Vincent had remained silent since we had met up with him after departing from the tent, and now he even refused to make eye contact with me at all.  
  
I had been staring over at him for quite some time from across the trolley, but now I slowly directed my vision towards my feet. What's he so uptight about...? I thought, rather depressed. It was only some stupid fortune teller....it's not like.....  
  
"Y'know, it's not the truth!" I suddenly piped up, then internally slapped myself for talking amongst my thoughts.  
  
Vincent didn't reply, but after a moment's hesitation slowly shifted his gaze over onto my face.  
  
".......Um....what...what I mean is, the fortune teller was wrong," I told him quietly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I'm....I'm not the reincarnation of anyone, I'm really not. She just made all that up, I know she did..."  
  
There was a second or two of silence, and then he brushed aside a strand of black hair that had fallen across his face. "............Oh, really.........?"  
  
".....Well, you don't believe any of that reincarnation crap, do you??" I asked him. "You know, being reborn as something else depending on your actions in a past life......You really don't think any of that's true, do you??"  
  
He stared over at me for several seconds, then shifted his gaze back out the window beside him. "......I guess not...."  
  
Once again an eerie silence filled the trolley, and suddenly found myself growing rather impatient. "....Then why the hell do you keep actin' so weird for??!" I snapped nastily, standing up. "It's bad enough you won't even let me know who this damn woman is, but now you think that I actually am her?! Why do you always act like there's a stick up your ass??!"  
  
He didn't even look towards me, simply continued staring out towards the ground below, then slowly shut his eyes and exhaled a weary sigh. "...........No, I guess you wouldn't be Lucrecia, would you...?"  
  
".........................H.....huh??" I blinked several times, gaping over at him, then slowly lowered myself back into a sitting position. Neither of us spoke a word until the trolley reached the station.  
  
*****  
  
I tugged lightly on the needle in my hands, yanking the thread through the clothing I held, then slipped it back through again with a rather clumsy twist of my wrist. After Vincent and I had returned to the apartment, he had literally hung up his coat, taken off his boots, and walked straight forward into his labyrinth of a library next to his bedroom without a word and had not emerged since. I had been left alone in the shadowy living room, and after several minutes of shocked stillness I had slowly returned to sewing my lacerated street clothes. The room had remained silent the entire while, and occasionally my eyes would shift over to the large window to my right, now stained with numerous bullet holes scattered about the glass, out towards the city. The sun was now setting, coating the heavens with blurred streaks of varying pastels, and faintly in the decreasing light I could see flakes of snow gradually beginning to drop to the streets once again. Other than that and my scarce, awkward mending of my clothing, the world remained immobile, painted against a canvas of smeared colors.  
  
"Goddammit!!" I hissed quietly to myself as there was a sharp spark in my left index finger and I could see small droplets of blood spattering to the carpet. "Why is sewing so damn hard?? No wonder I decided against that job offer of a seamstress...." I lifted the garment in my hands up to my face, eyeing the remaining incisions and grumbling at the clumsy stitching. "Oh well. So it looks like a horse's ass. At least I should be able to wear it..."  
  
A rustling noise came from the hallway, and as a glanced upwards I met a pair of scarlet eyes staring down at my position on the floor. Vincent glanced over at me expressionlessly, holding an open book in one hand and resting the other in his pocket. My body stirred internally from some sort of unwanted tension at being watched so intensely beneath his stoic gaze, and slowly I shifted my eyes away from him towards the floor. "......Hi..."  
  
He didn't react for a second, then slowly reached up and removed the pair of reading glasses from his face. "............I thought maybe I should come out and see if you needed anything. Forgive me for being so isolated, but I've had a lot on my mind recently..."  
  
"...........It's all right," I replied monotonously, casually attempting to go back to my embroidery but realizing my hands had begun to quiver. "I'm ok, you don't need to worry. I'm just finishing up the stitching in my dress and then I think I'm going to bed. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I feel really guilty about intruding on you like this. I....I think I'll head back out to the streets tomorrow."  
  
Once again he remained motionless for a second, then all of a sudden spontaneously slammed the book in his hand closed, and turned slightly to the side, heading back towards the library. "......For the record...." he began composedly, casting a glance back over his shoulder down at me, ".......I'd prefer if you stayed."  
  
I blinked several times, and then he took advantage of my silence and turned completely, walking back in the direction of the athenaeum. I stared after him for several seconds, then raised a hand to my cheek and felt how hot it had grown. ".........What.....what's the matter with you, Allie...?" I scolded myself softly, gazing down at the needlework in my hands. "What are you getting so worked up about...? So he's some lonely guy that wants someone to keep company with........Why the hell is that making you blush....?"  
  
*****  
  
"....Ugghh..." My body twitched involuntarily at the remaining bitter taste of a nightmare in my mind, then shifted over onto its opposite hip. I clung to the blankets draped over my shoulders in an unsteady, shivering embrace and pulled them further up to my face, attempting to muffle the vague shadows of unsettling dreams that still flickered behind my closed eyes. Faintly outside my subconscious I could hear the clock toll three times, echoing in the silent hallway, and the sound of sleet ricocheting lightly on the window. "...Brrrrr...." A knifelike seism shot down my spine, stirring my icy body awake and causing my eyelids to slowly flutter open. "...Nnn...?" I blinked incoherently several times, facing the back of the scarlet couch directly before my eyes, then shifted up onto one elbow and gazed around. ".......Vincent's apartment...." I whispered hoarsely, pushing back several strands of hair that had tumbled across my face. ".....It was a dream.....all a dream...."  
  
I was silenced as my aroused ears suddenly picked up a soft noise streaming quietly in arcs above my head, and as I forced myself to listen more intently I could recognize the flapping of leathery wings. All at once I emitted a smothered scream and threw the covers over my head, ducking protectively beneath the custody of the quilts around me. "Oh shit!!!" I cried, most likely much louder than I meant to. "Oh, shit!! Oh, God, kill me now!! Oh, my God, don't do this to me--!!"  
  
I choked out another cry as suddenly someone seized the blankets above me and roughly tore them away, and I leapt up into a defensive sitting position and covered my head with my arms. "..........Vi.....Vincent!!" I exclaimed loudly, distinguishing his pale complexion in the darkness. "What...the...hell....!!"  
  
"...I heard you scream," he interrupted, pushing aside the covers. "You scared me half to death, I thought you were in trouble. What's the matter??"  
  
"What's the matter??!" I echoed in disbelief, staring at his face. "What's the matter??! Can't you hear what's the matter??! Are you deaf??!!!"  
  
"...What...?" He glanced up at the ceiling, then noticed a small, dark shape circling around above him. "What in the--"  
  
"It's a bat!!" I shouted loudly, throwing my arms over my head once again. "Can't you tell??! It's a goddam ba-at!!!! Get it away from me, please!!! Just get rid of it, Vincent--!!"  
  
"....A......?" He stared up towards the airborne silhouette above his head, then slowly reached to the side, slipped the pillowcase off the cushion beside me, and with one swift thrust upwards he managed to capture the bat and clench the top fringe of the bed linen to trap it inside. He held it up by his face, watching the enclosed animal struggle around in a panic. "....This?" he asked doubtfully, holding the pillowcase over towards me. "This is what you've been screaming about...?"  
  
"Aaahhhh!! I said to get it away!!" I shrieked in alarm, covering my face with my hands. "I hate bats!!! I can't stand them!! They must be the goddam ugliest things on the entire planet!! All hairy and bloodsucking.... brrr!! Will you just get rid of it, for Christ's sake??! Oh, God, please, Vincent--!!"  
  
".....All right, all right," he interrupted, gradually turning and heading out towards his bedroom. "Calm down, you're ok. I'll just go set it free out the window. I don't know how it got inside in the first place, but....." His voice insinuatingly grew fainter as he left the room, and I stared after him for several seconds through my fingers before finally lowering my hands from my face and exhaling a breathless sigh.  
  
".................I hate them........" I whispered throatily, clenching my quivering fingers into tight fists. "......Absolutely despise them......"  
  
I sat alone in the living room for probably close to a minute and a half, and then I slowly shifted up to my feet and took several trembling steps over towards the window. The city was hardly visible in the darkness, but I could see the small specks of various colored light speckled all over the black mural of the surrounding backdrop. The street below was forsaken and dismal, still varnished with a thin coat of white snow. I stared blankly out towards the desolate landscape, then breathed out a quiet sigh. ........It's so beautiful... I thought, resting my forehead against the cold glass. .....Why is this the viewpoint of the city I never get to see from the street...? And why is it that every time I feel depressed or confused, this is the place I come to...?  
  
I continued to gaze out towards the slumbering city for several more seconds, then slowly shifted my vision towards my reflection on the glass before me. "This is all so stupid," I announced aloud, staring towards the murky image of myself projected back at me. "I don't know why, but it is. I want it all to stop. I want everyone to leave me alone. And first thing tomorrow, I'm going to head straight out that--"  
  
I stopped as my vision slowly crept from my reflection to over my shoulder, and I felt a jolt as I noticed the form of a pale woman standing only a foot or two from behind me. Her reflected icy blue eyes glared angrily over towards me, and after several seconds she gradually turned and walked away from my back until she eventually dissipated into the air.  
  
All at once I whirled about, facing the spot where the woman had been standing, but all that came into view was the engulfing blanket of darkness around me. I stood, staring down at the carpet before me, for several seconds, then managed to choke through my panting breaths, "................L..........Lucrecia........?......That's...... that's who it was, wasn't it....?..............It was Lucrecia again.....!!"  
  
A loud noise came from above me.  
  
Immediately I froze in place, then slowly lifted my eyes to the ceiling. Nothing happened for a second, but then I heard it again--a conspicuous creaking sound coming from the floor over my head, finally succeeded by another, further across the ceiling, like a gradual chain of soft footsteps. I drew in a sharp gasp that got caught in my throat and clasped my hands across my chest, gaping incoherently the woodwork above me. The noise came again, soft but deafening in the coarse silence, gradually moving its way across the story over my head. Another--a tumultuous creaking of aged floorboards, echoing mercilessly in the darkness about me. "........U...ughh....." I choked quietly, slowly slinking back towards the couch. ".......Some.....someone's here.......Someone's in the house.....!!"  
  
I glanced down at my hands, which were quivering noticeably in the absence of light, then gripped them tightly against my bosom and snapped my head over towards the hallway. "......Oh...oh my God.....I....I can't even think...! Ok, ok, chill out, Allie, you have to get out of here--"  
  
I was silenced as a hand whipped out of the darkness, clamping across my mouth and whipping me firmly against the wall. I emitted a muffled shriek, then, panting, glanced up towards the face of my assaulter. Instantly I recognized Vincent's ashen countenance, only an inch or two from mine, and I could feel his ragged, warm breaths brushing against my face. I exhaled a series of frightened whimpers, and immediately he exerted some extra pressure or his hand over my mouth. "......Shhh..." he whispered softly through his staggering breaths, gazing straight into my eyes. "......Ok, Allie, listen to me.....You've got to be quiet, all right...? There's someone here, do you understand me...? And I think I know who it is........So you've got to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible, ok? I'm going to take my hand away.....Don't scream, understand?? Stay quiet." After receiving a series of panicked nods, he gradually removed his palm from across my lips. I clenched my eyes shut, stifling a terrified, suppressed cry, then slowly gazed up at his face. He watched me to see my reaction, then bent closer in order for me to hear him. ".......Ok, listen closely, Allie...." he instructed me quietly, hesitating briefly as another creaking footstep came from the ceiling above his head. "........................I..........I want you to go into the library, ok?....Turn left at the door and go up to the large clapboard bookcase in the corner. Pull it away from the wall. It'll lead into a hidden staircase that will bring you outside. I want you to go down the stairs and get out of here, do you understand??"  
  
I stared at him for several seconds in silence, then slowly nodded. "..........Y.....Yes..........."  
  
"Don't turn back for anything, do you understand me?" he told me, brushing away a sweaty lock of blond hair that had sprawled across my face. "Don't stop. Just keep going until you reach safety, ok?..."  
  
"..................But..............but what about---"  
  
"Shhh!!" he hissed quietly, casting a glance above him as another footfall came from the ceiling. "You just go. I'll be fine. Don't you dare turn around and come back for me, do you understand? Don't stop running until you have no idea where you are, all right?....................Are you ready....?"  
  
I forced myself to swallow, then nodded shakily.  
  
".....All right..." Vincent stood up straight and looked upwards towards the ceiling. ".......Go."  
  
I felt a powerful jolt, and all at once I whirled about and dashed down the hallway towards the library. My hammering heartbeat and huffing breaths clogged my ears, blurring my sight, prowling viciously over my skin. The corridor seemed so long to me now, and it seemed like I had been running forever before I finally reached the library. It was much darker in this room than the surrounding ones, due to the lack of a window, and I had to hesitate for several seconds in order for my eyes to adjust to the change in light. The chamber was rather large but appeared smaller, since every wall was lined with a series of massive bookcases stuffed full with various works of literature. I could faintly see cobwebs hanging from the corners and from the elegant, dark candelabras bolted to the walls.  
  
My vision fell to the bookcase to my left.  
  
It was significantly larger than the others, filled with an innumerable amount of diversified books. It loomed like a dark, ominous shadow against the indistinct wall, standing a good foot or so higher above my head. I stared at it in silence for a good thirty seconds, then forced myself to swallow and made a dash towards it, blinded to my surroundings due to the intense blackness engulfing the room. I hurriedly slipped my fingers around the shelf closest to my height, feeling the sticky cobwebs hanging from the above ledge cling to my fingers, and with a strained moan I only managed to drag the bookcase maybe two or three inches away from the wall. It was surprisingly heavy, and I watched in horror as several publications plummeted from the mantels and plunged to the dusty rug beneath my feet with a deafening thump. I froze for a minute, panting and staring down at the open binders on the floor (which seemed to be volumes of hand-written scientific observations and graphs), then turned my head back towards the doorway. Everything remained silent.  
  
I watched the postern for several more seconds, then turned back towards the bookcase and gave another strained tug. It shifted several inches further away from the wall, causing several more notebooks to fall to the floor. "......uuuughhh..." I gave one final forced yank on the cumbrous wooden shelf in my hands, then drew back to observe my progress. I had succeeded in dragging the left side of the bookcase about a foot or so away from the wall, partially revealing a hidden doorway leading into a darkened passageway. I stared at the gateway for a minute or two, then gave one final glance back towards the hallway before I hesitated, inhaled a sharp breath, and took several steps into the darkness beyond.  
  
Past the hatchway was a long flight of cold stone stairs.   
  
The narrow passageway surrounding me was completely black, with the exception of some dim light emanating from the library above me. On either side of me I could sense the presence of two icy brick walls stretching up to the low ceiling above my head, and the air clawing predatorily at my skin reeked heavily of dust, wet stone, and carrion. I covered my mouth and choked in disgust, forcing myself to continue further down the stairwell. "...........You can do this, Allie......" I assured myself quietly, feeling shakily with my foot for the next step below me. ".......You're almost there.....just keep going, and you'll be--"  
  
I was cut off as a series of gunshots spontaneously rang out from the apartment behind me, surprisingly overpowering in the compressed passageway around me. All at once I drew in a terrified gasp, whirled back around, and shot my vision back up towards the doorway at the top of the staircase, fastening my hands together in front of my heart. Deathly silence ensued.  
  
I couldn't move; my legs had become cemented to the brick beneath me. I gaped for several more seconds up at the doorway, panting, then emitted a choked, ".................V..............Vincent.....??" I took one step up towards the hatch. ".......V....Vincent...!!!"   
  
My breaths were heaving now. The sickening blanket of powerful silence combined with the concentrated darkness smothered my body, and for a second I thought I was going to faint. "...Vincent...!" I cried despondently. "...Vincent, are you there??" I took another panicked step up the staircase. "...Vincent, please answer me!!"  
  
All was still for a moment, but then I could faintly perceive the sound of the same heavy footsteps I had heard above me only minutes before making their way across the living room behind me. I froze for a second, stumbling back down the two stairs I had ascended, then whirled about and made a dash down into the depths of the passageway.  
  
The bottom of the staircase lead into a remarkably large brick chamber, entirely submerged in darkness. The powerful odors I had smelled before were much stronger now, so much so that I could feel my sinuses burn and my eyes begin to water. The room seemed to continue on in two directions: a wide supplement of the enclosure I now stood in to my right or a seemingly narrowing passage proceeding before me. I glanced back and forth between these two choices, then back up towards the staircase behind me. The scent of decaying flesh seemed to be originating from the blackened route to my right, and now I could also hear the sound of dripping water and a series of quiet squeaking noises, which I could only assume were rats.   
  
I drew in a sharp breath, forcing myself to relax, and stood in silence with my eyes closed for probably about five minutes. When I finally reopened them, I cast one glance back over to my right before I continued forward to the passageway before me.  
  
As I had guessed, the brick walls gradually began to close around me, and soon I found myself ascending yet another adamantine stairway. This one was significantly darker than the first, however, and I was forced to cling pathetically to the brick bastions to either side of me for support. "...........Ok, Allie......." I huffed quietly, straining my eyes against the intense murkiness. "...You're gonna be all right, ok?? And Vincent too. Vincent's fine. He's gonna be waiting for you when you finally get outside. And then you can just go home and everything will be just like it was before, ok....???"  
  
I was stopped abruptly as my hands before me suddenly hit against cold stone, and faintly in the darkness I could see the outline of another wall blocking my path, bluntly ending the staircase. "..........Oh shit......" I whispered shakily to myself, pushing weakly against the barrier before me. ".......Oh shit......oh, c'mon, please..... Don't do this to me.....o God, please don't do this to me....!!"   
  
I took a small step back from the wall, hurriedly sweeping over it with my eyes, and then I crouched down and ran my fingers over several bricks that seemed to be a darker color than the others. I shoved feebly against one, then let out a sigh of relief as it shifted backwards slightly from the force. "...Yes!!" I cried softly, placing both my hands against the weakened stones and pressing against them again. "Thank God! Oh thank you God!! I'm going to get out of here, I'm so out of here--!!"  
  
I was silenced as my ears picked up a faint scurrying noise coming from the wall before me, and I immediately let out a terrified gasp as I spotted numerous black specks scampering up my arm. "Oh God!!!!!" I shrieked tumultuously, jerking backwards and clawing viciously at my sleeve. "Oh Jesus Christ!!" I could see more of them now--thousands of spiders flowing out from the wall before me, spilling to the floor, invading the walls. ".........They're.....they're everywhere!!" I choked shakily, staring around me in horror. "...Oh my God, there're billions of the goddam things......!!!!" I emitted another scream as I could feel them crawling up my arms, scratching at my legs. "They're all over me!!!! Oh my God oh my God oh my God--!!!!" I tore violently at my clothes and the back of my neck, then rammed the wall with my shoulder. "Come on!!!!!" I shrieked, drawing back and repeating the action. "What the hell is wrong with you?!!! Give way, dammit!!! Let....me...out...of... here...!!!!!!!" With one final attack several of the bricks finally slid through the wall and fell onto the ground beyond, allowing refreshing light to enter into the chamber. Immediately I bent down and forced my way through the small opening, then fell to my knees onto the ground and continued to slash at my body. "Get them off me, get them off me!!" Innumerable black spiders fell from my clothes and hair to the grass beneath me.  
  
Panting, I finally ceased my hysterics and slowly glanced around me. I sat towards the back of the small graveyard between the buildings I had noticed the first day I had awakened in Vincent's apartment, facing the posteriors of all the gravestones and monuments. I gradually shifted to my feet and dusted myself off, gaping blankly at the cemetery before me, then slowly took several steps forward, out into the center of the graveyard.   
  
I cast several glances about me towards the obelisks I passed, holding my arms against me as the atmosphere about me turned noticeably cooler. ".......It's so quiet...." I whispered to myself. ".....Like.....like death....I wonder if this is all the dead hear...?"  
  
I stopped abruptly as my eyes fell to a certain gravestone, then turned and wiped the layer of dust away from the inscription. "........... 'Lucrecia'........." I read quietly, lifting a hand to my mouth. ".........Oh.....oh my God........Is....is this her grave........?" All at once I was struck with an intense wave of nausea, and I turned away from the monument. "..U..ugh.....That's....that's so--" I halted a second time as I noticed the gravestone I was now facing, then removed the dirt caking the marble engraving. "..........W.........wait a second...." I choked hoarsely, drawing backwards. ".........This...this one too......Why.....why do they both say 'Lucrecia'....?"   
  
I turned back around towards the rest of the cemetery behind me, then approached another random cenotaph. "........... "Lucrecia'......this one's for her too....?" My vision shifted up towards the remainder of the graveyard, and immediately I drew in a gasp and stumbled several feet backwards. ".........Oh my God....." I whispered in shock, surveying the entirety of the necropolis. ".....A.....all of them.....every single gravestone..... they're all for Lucrecia........every single one has her name on it.....!!"  
  
Suddenly the cemetery seemed very cramped, as if it was choking the air out of my surroundings while it gradually engulfed my body, and as my blood began to freeze over and my skin began to grow cold I managed to squeeze my eyes shut and dash past the remaining monuments, out towards the road, leaving behind only a trail of footprints in the snow surrounding the silent, unmoving gravestones.  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Six  
  
It must have been close to about five or six in the morning when the sun gradually began to peer through the gaps between buildings, spilling a vast blanket of aureate stitching across the white snow beneath my feet. I had only decided to continue walking maybe an hour or two before, since fear and exhaustion had immediately crippled me only after a brief amount of time after fleeing from the graveyard. I had spent an eternity concealed in the protective shadows of a number of dark alleyways, occasionally managing to drift off into some sort of finite, restless slumber before being promptly awakened by a nightmare or some sort of foreboding premonition. Other than that, I had forced myself to remain hidden from the eyes of the searching world until it grew light enough for me to continue forward.  
  
I braced myself against a malicious gale of violent wind that snarled angrily down the avenue as it charged past me, ignoring several unusual glances I was receiving from a number of passersby. "......So cold....." I whispered hoarsely, gripping my sleeves in order to warm myself with my own embrace. I cast a glimpse down at a rather elderly man leaned against the brick wall as I passed, and he slowly gazed back up at me through bloodshot, blurry eyes and tightened the torn blanket he held over his shoulders. ".......This is the city I see all the time....not the peaceful metropolis I can see through Vincent's window...." I caught a quick look of a group of small children, probably no older than the age of six, all rummaging through garbage cans and greedily eating the dirtied scraps they managed to find.   
  
I turned my head away and quickened my pace, and as suddenly as they had started my thoughts quieted themselves.  
  
*****  
  
I exhaled a nervous weary sigh and gazed out through the glass, twirling the phone cord apprehensively between my fingers. I heard another distant ring in my ear, then troubledly lifted one hand to my forehead and leaned against the transparent wall beside me. "..........C'mon, c'mon, where are you.....?" I whispered quietly, gazing uneasily down at my shoes. "..........Don't do this to me, Vincent......c'mon, pick up the damn phone....let me know you're ok.....c'mon, please...!"  
  
".........We're sorry, but the designated party is not answering," a monotonous mechanical voice told me. "We regret to inform you that you will now be automatically disconnected."  
  
"...No, no, dammit!!" I screamed angrily, but was immediately silenced by a loud dial tone. "Shit!!" I slammed the receiver furiously back onto the base, then leaned back against the wall behind me and let out an aggravated breath. ".......Ok, Allie, you're going to calm down now..." I instructed myself quietly, pushing back several strands of blond hair that dropped limply before my eyes. "Panicking isn't going to rectify this situation. You're just going to have to keep a low profile and see how things play out...."  
  
I emitted another sigh, then slowly forced myself to stand and slide open the glass door beside me and stepped out of the phone booth. "...Besides, maybe it wasn't even his number," I assured myself as I continued slowly down the road, shoving my numb hands into my jean pockets--I was still internally praising myself for falling asleep in Tifa's clothes--and holding up one hand to shield my face from another vicious attack of wind. "...Yeah, that's probably it...You only got a quick glance at it from beside the phone at his apartment, and your memory sucks....yeah, I must have dialed the wrong number........"  
  
I proceeded walking forward, leaving a trail of imprints on the blanket of frost behind me and gazing sadly towards the pale asphalt beneath me. "......................What am I so worried about, anyway?" I questioned myself nastily, halfheartedly kicking away a rock in my path so it tumbled clumsily into the road. "That jerk never cared about me in the first place. And, hell, I never gave a damn about him either. He barely ever talked to me, and even when he did, it was usually some mumblings about Lucrecia or whatever that woman's name was....He couldn't have cared less about my welfare....only his own and Lucrecia's......" I slowly closed my eyes as I continued walking. "...........Then..........then why do I keep thinking about him.....?"  
  
The following seconds were completely composed of an impenetrable silence that shrieked mockingly in my ears and brushed coldly against my body, threatening me, taunting me. My eyes fluttered shut once again, attempting to muffle the contemptuous tranquillity, but my conscience and the guilty ravings within my stomach refused to be muted.  
  
All at once a robust presentiment snapped angrily through my body, tearing at my skin and almost causing me to collapse into unconsciousness. That...that feeling.....it's tearing my body apart.....!!!! I clutched my body in a desperate attempt to stifle the pain, panting, then slowly lifted my head to glance around. Numerous pedestrians continued by me indifferently, not even hesitating to gaze over at me. ...U...ughhh...!! I cringed again, bracing myself against the fiery stab of agony that suddenly erupted from my stomach, and brushed aside the loose strands of hair that had been thrust across my sweaty countenance by a pitiless squall that snapped by me. What...what the hell....?! My eyes slowly crept across the numerous people that strutted casually past me until they gradually fell to the large pane of glass showing into a rather small café situated to my right. ....Ouch....! Ripping.. ... my body to shreds....!!   
  
I emitted a breathless gasp as my vision fell to a dark form positioned within a booth inside the café.  
  
He sat only maybe two or three feet from my side, merely separated from me by the misty window between us. He was leaning nonchalantly on his elbows against the table, occasionally taking a sip from the cup of coffee situated beside him, and through the haze dusted lightly against the glass I could vaguely perceive an amused smirk seeping up onto his face.  
  
All at once he turned his head towards me, and as he brushed away several ebony locks of hair from before his complexion I caught a panicked glimpse of a pair of aberrant emerald eyes.  
  
...Y.....You....!!!! I staggered back several steps backwards, my quivering hands clasped tightly against my heart, and tightened my fingers into fists. ......How..how did you....??!  
  
The man continued to sneer at my sudden alarm, indifferently maintaining his eye contact with me through the window, and all of a sudden his hand lifted from the table, and he slowly gestured for me to advance towards him.  
  
My knees trembled beneath my weight, yet they were unresponsive to the intense cold surrounding my body, and I finally forced my immobile feet to tear away from the asphalt beneath me, whirl around, and dash madly back in the direction I had come, furiously shoving my way into the protection of the crowds lining the sidewalk.  
  
Behind me, the man grimaced again, turning his head towards the table once more, then took a small sip from his cup once again and placed it lightly back into its saucer.  
  
*****  
  
"Excuse me!! Excuse me!!" Panting, I managed to force my way through the tight masses hemming the streets, constraining myself to swallow down my parched throat. Gotta get away...!! I thought desperately, propelling myself between a couple walking hand in hand and continuing to sprint down the walkway. That....that was him....I'd recognize him from anywhere...!! The man from the apartment...!!! I raced blindly across the avenue, squeezing myself into a fresh flock of pedestrians and continuing to flee. How did he find me??! I thought frantically, my mind racing impetuously and sending frenzied messages before my eyes. How did he find where I had gone?! Does he know where I am all the time...??! An older man shot me an exasperated glare as I shoved past him, and I heard several people mumbling about "insane drugees" and "disrespectful youths," but my intense hysteria had driven me into a state of oblivion, and my delirious brain refused to have my legs stop running.   
  
That feeling I had when I first stepped in front of the café....I thought hazily, slipping between another pair of lovers walking side by side. ...what....what was that...? I thought I was going to be ripped apart...! Could...could it have been some sort of warning...? Was...was someone trying to tell me about the man in the café...?   
  
I managed to free myself from the custody of the mob on the streetside and slip clumsily into a side alley, awkwardly forcing myself to scale a tall hurricane fence and leap to the pavement on the opposite side. I landed negligently on one knee and had to push myself back up to my feet, ignoring the blood that was beginning to seep onto my pantleg, and continued to hasten deeper into the alleyway. I can't get away... I thought suddenly, fluttering my eyes closed as I ran. ....He's found me before....what makes me think that I can--  
  
I was silenced as I directly collided with an obstacle before me, and I was sent sprawling clumsily onto my back on the asphalt. I sat up onto my elbows, lifting a hand to my face as I could feel my nose beginning to bleed and trickle down my chin. ".....Uuuuggg...." I slowly lifted my eyes to the form before me, a tall, dark silhouette standing above my panting body on the ground with its arms crossed sternly before it.  
  
"...Ok, you little wench!!" it hissed nastily, extending a furious hand out towards me. "I don't want to hurt you, you got that? Just give me all your damn money and I'll go on my way and you can go on yours and none will be the wiser, all right??"  
  
".......Nnnn..." I gaped blankly up towards the shadow's face, then slowly blinked several times. ".....D.... Damien...?..."   
  
".....Eh...?" The figure hesitated for a second, then slowly reached forward and lifted my bangs from my face. ".......................Jesus Christ!! It's Eliza!!"  
  
"....D......Damien...!!" I cried despondently, shifting myself to my knees and reaching a quivering hand up towards him. ".......I....I.....!!!"  
  
"What the hell are you doin' here??" he exclaimed loudly, kneeling before me and clasping my hand in his. "Are you insane?? Why aren't you back at home?? I coulda hurt you, you stupid bitch!! What are you doin' in all those new clothes??"  
  
"....Damien...!" My startled mind prohibited any sound but his name from escaping my lips, and all at once I threw myself up against him. "...It's...it's you....! Please say it's really you....!"  
  
"...Eliza, where did you come from??" he asked me in surprise, gradually wrapping his arms around my quivering body against him. "What happened? Why are you so afraid...?"  
  
".......Just don't leave me behind..." I choked quietly, burying my face into his shirt. ".........Just don't leave me by myself...........make everything go away.....just make it all leave me alone...!!"  
  
*****  
  
"...........Dammit, Eliza, I said not to touch it!" Ryo snapped furiously, seizing my wrist and jerking it away from the large gash on my right knee. "It'll get infected, it will, if you don't leave it the hell alone!! Just hold the damn cloth on it, ok??"  
  
"....Jesus Christ, you're just like a goddam father..." I huffed angrily, pulling my hand away from his grasp and replacing the wet rag atop my wound once again. "I was just seeing if it was still bleeding, that's all. I'll be fine, I don't need any of you guys to take care of me."  
  
".....Yeah, well, that's not what Damien said," Claude retorted, apprehending a curious stray cat by the scuff of its neck and thrusting it away from the small cardboard box inclosing a insignificant amount of food. "...You again, you stupid cat!! How many damn times do I have to kick your ass before you leave?!" He snorted again, watching the feline sprint furiously out towards the road, then whipped his vision back over towards me. "....According to what he said, you were sobbin' and stutterin' all over.....he said it looked like you was about to have a goddam nervous breakdown."  
  
"..............................Well, what does he know....?" I turned my head aside, gazing down towards the asphalt beneath me. After Damien had found me, he had led me back to the alleyway where he and the majority of the homeless adolescents of the city resided, then had soon departed in order to mug more passersby. Although the alley was usually rather deserted with the exception of my five male companions, at this time numerous more nomadic juveniles were positioned all along the back wall of the passageway, and the atmosphere around me echoed with the noises of conversation and laughter.  
  
".................You gonna be ok, Eliza...?" a small girl of about seven years of age, who I knew as Mimi, asked me, gradually approaching my side and lifting her shredded hat from before her eyes. "You was bleedin' a lot....you sure you gonna be all right...?"  
  
I smiled, then pulled her cap back over her eyes. "....I'll be fine, Mimi. You don't need to worry about me at all..." I had known this girl for probably the majority of her life, when Damien had discovered her weak, malnourished body beneath one of the overpasses somewhere on the south side of Midgar. She had been abandoned by her parents, it seemed, several months or even years before, and as she was crying she was occasionally staring up towards the bridge above her, as if contemplating suicide. Whether or not she was mentally deciding whether or not to throw herself into oncoming traffic, I'm not sure--all I know is that ever since then I've strived to bring her back to a state of psychological sanity.  
  
".....I told you, she's not here!!" a loud voice suddenly shouted from the entrance of the alleyway, and simultaneously we all turned our heads towards the noise. "I'll say it again, there's no one named Allie here!! I suggest you get the hell out of here, you moron, before I beat the shit outta you!!"  
  
I immediately froze, then shifted up to my feet. "...........What......what the hell...."  
  
Mimi clung to my hand and slid nervously up beside me. "....E.....Eliza....?"  
  
"........Move over," a second stern voice commanded from the inlet. "Now."  
  
"I'm tellin' ya, there's no one you want in here!!" the original voice, which I could now recognize as Damien, insisted. "Besides, we don't let your type--"  
  
"Move." There was a loud shuffling noise, as if someone was shoved roughly into the wall, and suddenly a series of loud footsteps began to make their way towards me. Mimi's grip tightened on my hand, stopping any blood circulation from entering my fingers, and squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face into my hip. I forced myself to swallow and straightened up, but beneath me I could feel my knees trembling.  
  
I drew in a startled gasp as the form of Vincent stormed out from the shadows, and all at once I wrenched my hand from Mimi's constricting grasp and lifted it to my face. "..........V.........Vincent....." I stammered blankly, staring up at his face as he grabbed my wrist and yanked me towards him. ".........It's......it's really...."  
  
"You!!" he snapped angrily. "What the hell do you think you're doing?? Are you out of your mind, coming here?! This is the first place he'll look for you, damn it!! What was the first thing I told--"  
  
".........................Vincent........!!" I was completely oblivious to his enraged remonstrance, and all at once I threw my arms around his neck in a forlorn embrace. "Oh my God!!" I cried joyously, burying my face into his shoulder. "Oh my God, it's really you!!! I...I thought.....that you had...!!!! Oh Christ, you're alive!! You're really alive....!!!"  
  
"....................I................" Vincent immediately turned tense in my arms, and his voice instantly was cut off. I could feel how tight he had spontaneously grown, and I speedily drew back and seized hold of both of his arms.  
  
"You're alive, I can't believe you're actually alive!!!" I exclaimed happily, ignoring the perplexed stares from the surrounding spectators I could feel on my back. "....As.....as soon as I left, I was so afraid that you had been......but it doesn't matter now, you're ok!! Oh my God, I'm so relieved!!"  
  
"........Uh....." His face had become significantly flushed, and all at once he withdrew his arm from my grasp and as casually as possible brushed aside several locks of hair that had fallen across his face. ".......Th.... there was no reason for you to be worried....." he stammered anxiously, casting his gaze away from me. "....Nothing occurred. Absolutely nothing. After I fired a series of shots up towards the ceiling, I have a feeling whoever was lurking up there decided to depart........You....you truly did not need to worry.....about me....."  
  
"....Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is goin' on here??!" Damien snapped, shoving roughly between Vincent and me. "Who the hell are you?? What do you think you're doin' here?? I swear to God, I'll kick your slimy--"  
  
"It's ok, it's ok, Damien!!" I exclaimed speedily, grabbing hold of his arm in order to restrain him. "Vincent's a friend of mine, it's all right!! There's no reason for you to be--"  
  
I was silenced as a loud gunshot sounded out from somewhere behind me, and all at once I felt something whistle past my ear. I emitted a loud scream and covered my eyes as one of the male adolescents positioned before me keeled over, grasping his chest, and collapsed onto his stomach to the asphalt. Blood flowed across the snow like an evil, looming shadow, and I could see more seeping onto the back of shirt in a small, circular shape. Immediately my vision whipped out towards the entrance of the alley, where I could see a dark silhouette contrasting against the outpouring of light emanating from the street beyond.  
  
"..............................Allie....." he said all of a sudden, taking a step forward and slowly lowering his gun. ".....Which one of you here is named Allie...?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Seven  
  
My vision shifted frantically from the shadow before me to the bleeding carcass at my feet, and I immediately shifted myself backwards several steps, ducking behind the protection of Damien. The alley around me had grown significantly silent with the exception of my heaving breaths and pounding heartbeat, and my hands had turned sweaty against my chest.  
  
Vincent spoke first. "...............And you would be.....?"  
  
The figure stepped forward another foot or so, casually tapping a long nightstick in his hand against his left hip. ".....It ain't none 'a your business, bastard. Just step aside and hand over Allie....unless you'd like others to join your little friend here...." He pointed indifferently down towards the gory corpse resting on the snow beside me.  
  
Vincent paused for a second, staring towards the form with unusual nonchalance, then lifted one eyebrow. "......Reno of the Turks...." he whispered quietly, straightening up and staring out towards them. "....I thought you died along with ShinRa...."  
  
"....Oh yeah?? Well, I don't think it's any of your damn business, you understand me??" The shadow finally stepped out into the light, and I could faintly perceive a rather young man with long red hair held behind the nape of his neck in a crude ponytail dressed in a navy blue suit with the jacket wide open. "I ain't gonna take any of your crap, got it?? All I want is the girl. What happens to the rest 'a you is somethin' that you decide for yourselves."  
  
"....Hmph..." Vincent said softly, not removing his eyes from the figure before him. "So you survived.... what twisted plan have you conjured up now....?"  
  
"...............Vincent.........." I choked hoarsely, shakily grabbing hold of his sleeve. ".....What's going on...."  
  
".....Huh, I thought I recognized you." Reno sneered, lifting up his nightstick and resting it against his shoulder. "You're that ex-Turk bastard that helped defeat Sephiroth and overthrow President ShinRa....it's Valentine, isn't it? I'd know you from anywhere."  
  
"......I suppose we had the pleasure of being acquainted several times..." Vincent replied, shifting his position slightly so he stood before me. "....However, they never exactly were in the best of circumstances..."  
  
"...Yeah, we were usually tryin' to kill you, right?" Reno emitted a bone-chilling laugh that ricocheted off the dense silence around me, and then he slowly directed his vision back onto Vincent. ".....Well, I'm glad we got this chance to be reacquainted.......but now, you'd better move your goth ass aside before I decide to blast your head off. I've been searchin' all week for this damn bitch, and the rest of the Turks have dispatched over the rest of the city in order to find her. I know she's here, I'm not leaving until I've done what I've come to do...." I felt a lump settle in my throat as he loudly cocked the gun in his hands.   
  
"..................I see." Vincent casually continued to gaze over towards the man in the entranceway, then cast a slow glance over his shoulder back at me. "...I'm afraid the girl does not seem to be too fond of your company...."  
  
"....Well, ain't that a goddam shame....?" Reno gradually aimed his gun straight towards Vincent's face and smirked. "And I thought I wasn't going to be the only one leavin' this alley with my head still connected to my shoulders..."  
  
In a split second Vincent shoved open his unfastened coat and seized the revolver resting in the holster on his hip, then thrust his arm forward and released a bombardment of gunshots, snapping angrily into fiery embers as they came in contact with the brick walls situated on either side of his target. Reno emitted a disgusted cry, shielding his face with his arms as the relentless fire continued to spark around him, and all at once he dove to the side and ducked protectively behind a row of garbage cans lined against the left wall.  
  
"Get down!!" Vincent gave me a rough shove, sending me collapsing viciously on to my left side, as Reno's upper torso appeared above the string of trash containers and began to return the fire. Vincent lunged towards me, ducking beneath the ravaging fusillade, and seized me beneath the arm, dashing towards the back of the recess and dodging behind the large dumpster positioned against the back wall. I covered my ears with my hands as return fire snapped maliciously on either side of me, then slowly shifted my gaze over towards Vincent, leaning his back protectively against the receptacle. I could hear the tortured screams of several other companions of mine and faintly I could see numerous trails of blood beginning to snake across the snow around the dumpster.  
  
".....V....Vincent!!" I was silenced as another scream escaped my lips, and immediately Vincent whirled about and released a string of ammunition over the top of the dumpster before crouching back down again. I could feel the receptacle behind me shaking violently with every bullet that struck its surface, and the tumultuous metallic slamming noises that sounded from every contact numbed my ears. "....Vincent, please stop--!!"  
  
"I said stay low!!" he snapped angrily, shoving me furiously down onto my stomach before resting his back against the dumpster once again. "You have a deathwish or something?!"  
  
I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut as a series of bullets flew over my head and pelted the brick wall before me, causing a torrent of flickering blazes to flutter down in front of my eyes. My left hand slid against something--it felt like a trail of slinking blood--and the agonizing screeches of innumerable other adolescents before the dumpster blurred namelessly into the pounding of ammunition against metal. "....Stop!! Stop, please!!!" I begged deplorably, covering my head with my arms. "You'll kill them!!! You'll kill them all!!! Oh God, please stop this--!!"  
  
Vincent spun around once again, aiming speedily with his gun and unchaining a succession of bullets. All of a sudden there was a loud, metallic recoiling noise, and all at once Vincent fell back behind the protection of the receptacle. "Damn!!" he hissed angrily, glaring down towards his bronze left arm and running his fingers over a large dent a stray bullet had made at collision. "The bastard's aim is significantly better than it used to be..." he huffed quietly, mostly directed towards himself, before he snapped his gaze forward once again. "That means nothing profitable can come from a pointless exchange like this...." His eyes slowly fell to my shivering, sobbing form against the snow, and he gradually leaned forward, away from the dumpster behind him, and placed a gentle hand against my shoulder. ".........Please stop crying....You'll be all right, do you understand me?..."  
  
I didn't budge for a second, not removing my body from the cold asphalt beneath me, then exhaled a quivering, hoarse breath. "........You killed them....You shot them all.....They're all dead...!! You killed them--!!!"  
  
Vincent did not move for several moments, then slowly withdrew from me and lifted his gun next to his face once again. "..................I want you to leave........." he told me after an extended pause. "............Allie, did you hear me? I want you to get out of here, right now. No questions asked. I'll cover you. You find a way to get the hell out of this alleyway."  
  
I slowly lifted my face from the ground, spilling damp locks of blond hair across my face. "....Wh....what...?"  
  
"....I don't know for what foul purpose Reno wants you and would rather not find out..." he began, cocking his gun and holding it alongside his complexion, ".....but whatever the incentive might be, I'll die before he succeeds. Somehow you need to find a way to escape while I hold his attention."  
  
".........I.....I can't--" I was cut off by a startled scream as a dark silhouette spontaneously leapt over the top of the dumpster and landed clumsily beside me on its knees, panting furiously and wiping away a string of blood that was seeping from its forehead. Immediately Vincent whirled about to face the shadow and aimed his weapon straight towards its face, but the figure simply huffed for several more seconds before he nastily snapped, "...You...you try and hit me with one goddam bullet and I'll tear out your spine and floss with it, yous got that?!!"  
  
I gaped at the panting form for several more seconds, then drew in a relieved gasp and shifted up closer to him. "..........D.......Damien..!!! You're alive--!!"  
  
"....Yeah, surprisingly enough..." he wheezed weakly, slumping tiredly back against the dumpster as it continued to quake with every round of ammunition that struck its surface and placing a hand against his blood-stained tunic. "....A...a lot of the guys managed to get their asses outta there before they got hit....and I got to Mimi in time before she got hurt again..."  
  
"........'A.......again'?!" I gasped in horror, lifting my hands to my mouth. "....N....no....you can't mean....!!"  
  
He slowly nodded, shoving aside a long strand of auburn hair that had fallen loose from his braid. "....It's...it's not as bad as it could have been, but.....she was hit straight through the left hand. It...it was bleedin' a lot, and she kept screamin'.....but Hiro managed to stay with her, and he'll help her, I know he will..."  
  
A loud clicking noise came from the other side of the dumpster, like a gun being reloaded, and all at once I emitted a terrified scream as a number of bullets struck the side of the receptacle, exploding into a series of glowing flares and falling to phosphorescent cinders against the snow. "........You do realize this is not going to end..." Vincent told us quietly, extending his arm over the top of the dumpster and firing several blind shots into the air. "Reno has improved a great deal since last time I encountered him. We must get Eliza out of here, don't you agree........Damien, was it...?"  
  
".....Ugh...." Damien cringed as the dumpster quavered violently behind him. "...He ain't after Eliza...he wants some chick named Allie.....And who the hell are you, anyway??"  
  
"......................Just a nameless stranger........" Vincent directed his vision over towards me as I sat quivering beside him, then slowly gazed over towards Damien once again. "...Whether Eliza is Reno's goal or not, I do believe this is not the ideal spot for a lady..."  
  
"....Yeah, well......" Damien wiped the blood from his face again. "And what are you expectin' us ta do, exactly? The second she steps out from behind this damn trash heap she's shot through five times over!"  
  
"................Can you lift her, Damien...?"  
  
".....Yeah, why?"  
  
".....I'm going to stand up and fire at him, all right?" Vincent cast a glance over his shoulder. "As soon as he's distracted, I want you to help Eliza up and get her over the back wall."  
  
"What?? Are you outta your mind?? She'll be massacred, you moron--!!"  
  
"....Not as long as I'm still alive." Vincent shifted up to his knees and turned to face the dumpster. ".....Do you understand what you are supposed to do? One mistake and it's all over..."  
  
"......If this damn plan doesn't work, I swear to God I'll--"  
  
"...Trust me." Vincent cast a glance over his shoulder back at us. "Are you ready?"  
  
"...Vincent, no!!" I protested tearfully, struggling against Damien as he took hold of my arm. "As...as soon as you stand up, he'll kill you...! You won't stand a chance!!"  
  
"........Wait for my signal..." Vincent continued indifferently, lifting his gun to his face.  
  
"Vincent, no--!!!!" I shrieked, extending a hand back towards him as Damien pulled me back against him. "No, Vincent, don't do this--!! Vincent, stop---!!!"  
  
"Now!!" All at once Vincent leapt straight to his feet, thrusting is arm forward and firing numerous rounds of ammunition out into the alleyway. There was the loud sound of bullets rebounding viciously off the brick walls and garbage cans, and all of a sudden I felt Damien seize my waist and lift me swiftly off the ground, up towards the brick barrier in front of me. I heard Reno emit a startled gasp, and then came the whistling noise of bullet streaming through the air about me. I grabbed hold of the wall before me, pulling away from Damien's grasp and leaping swiftly down to the ground on the other side. I slumped full-force onto my stomach and elbows, feeling an excruciating burn tear through the wound on my right knee, then slowly shifted up into a groggy sitting position. Bullets still pounded mercilessly against the opposite side of the brick wall beside me, and I could feel this trails of blood beginning to seep from several scratches on my cheeks and arms that had been formed by skimming ammunition and that many locks of my blond hair had been singed.   
  
I gaped silently at the wall before me, as if I could see visions through the deafening barrage hammering against the brick, then slowly shifted to my feet and struggled to remain on balance as an attack of intense queasiness surged and swam within my skull. Swaying and on the verge of vomiting, I managed to squeeze my shut and make a mad dash deeper into the alleyway.  
  
*****  
  
"........Uuuuughhh..." I covered my mouth and leaned my back against the cold hurricane fence behind me, attempting to disregard the noticeable quivering that had begun to sweep throughout my body. "......so sick...gonna faint...!" I clasped my arms against me, then slowly directed my vision to the dark alley around me. I had managed to flee another six or so blocks away by way of the series of back alleyways, and I had spend the past miserable twenty minutes shivering against the icy fence. "....it's...so cold...." I stuttered quietly, closing my eyes and bracing myself against the howling gale that ripped through my clothing. "...gotta...gotta keep moving...or I'll...or I'll....."  
  
".......Heheh....are you all by yourself, pretty lady....?"  
  
Immediately my vision snapped up towards the darkness before me, and after several seconds of sickening hesitation I watched a shadow slowly step into the light. He was tall and young, with long black hair, dark eyes, and a nauseating air of evil about him. I felt a internal jolt and pressed myself noisily back against the fence as I recognized the revolting similarity of the navy suit he wore to that of Reno's. There was a bulge at his left hip beneath his jacket, and instantly I identified the shape of a hidden gun holster at his side.  
  
".....Nnnnnn..." I gaped blankly up at his face, then leapt to my feet and kept my back flattened against the fence. "....Y...you....you're one of them...."  
  
The man's amused expression remained unchanged. "....I presume you've encountered one of my associates, then...?"  
  
".....Ughh..." My hands had begun to quiver against the wire barrier behind me, and I could hear how it had begun to rattle in my faltering grasp. ".....What.....what do you want...? Why are you following me...?.."  
  
"Hmph." The man smirked, then took several steps in towards me, causing me to draw in a startled breath and back up against the fence. "....I simply thought it would be horribly unethical of me to leave a poor homeless girl like yourself shivering out in ghastly weather such as this."  
  
I forced myself to swallow, refusing to remove my eyes from his face. ".....I....I want you all to go away...all of you.....I....I don't know what you could possibly want from me, but....but..."  
  
I stopped as the man drew up before me, reached forward, and gently lifted my chin with his hand in order to get a better look at my face. "................You do look just like her, don't you...?" he sneered. "...No wonder that bastard has such an interest in you..."  
  
"...........I......" I could feel how loud the thudding within my chest had become, and I forced myself to pull away from him. "..........I don't know what you're talking about...!"  
  
"................Such spirit." His eyes followed my quivering form against the fence as it emitted another rusty creak at the force of my weight. "....And such a pretty thing as well. It's such a shame that an attractive young lady like yourself must be involved in a such a deranged plot..."  
  
"....Sh...shut up!!" I snapped angrily, ignoring how my voice cracked pathetically from fear. "You...you just keep babbling on and on about nothing!! What the hell do you want from me?!"  
  
"..................It doesn't matter..." He casually reached into his jacket and removed the firearm from his hip, causing me to choke on my escaping gasp and cling pathetically to the fence on either side of me. "....I most certainly hope you forgive me..." he told me softly, gradually extending his arm and aiming his revolver straight at my face. "....Think of it this way, my dear....you are doing the great honor of granting me a ravishing new trophy for my wall..."  
  
I let out a terrified scream and fell to my knees as a loud gunshot rang out, followed by a anguished shout from the man before me. There was the sound of something metallic falling to the asphalt before me, and all of a sudden I heard the noise of a form rushing towards me, seizing me around the waist, and dashing back into the depths of the alleyway. Behind me I could faintly hear the sound of the man emitting a series of afflicted groans as he collapsed to his knees growing distant as the shadow that held me continued to flee.  
  
The following minutes were smeared together into a jumbled mural of disarrayed images, blurs, and sounds, and eventually I could feel the figure beside me gradually begin to slow, leap over a barrier before him, and land tiredly on his knees, panting.  
  
Somehow during the rush I had shifted myself beside the figure and clung firmly to his shirt, burying my face into his chest and sobbing quietly. ".........D.....Damien...." I lamented softly, concealing my tear-soaked face into his shirt and listening to the beat of his racing heart and the movement of his chest with every heaving breath. ".....Damien.....I was so afraid.......I.....I think....I saw my life....flash before my eyes...!!"  
  
I could hear the shadow's panting gasps above my head, and slowly I could feel his arm wrapping protectively around my back. ".........You're....you're all right now.......I'm here with you....."  
  
...That voice...! My eyes slowly fluttered open, and I forced myself to shift away from the form and gaze up at his face. "....V....Vincent....!!!" I gasped in surprise, jerking up into a startled kneeling position. "....It....it's you...!!"  
  
He didn't reply for a second, unable to speak through his gasping breaths, and then for the first time I watched a smile slowly seep up onto his sweaty face. "......You...you had me scared there for a second...Allie..."  
  
I gaped up at him for a second, then threw my arms around his neck in a terrified hug. "....You came for me...!! And you didn't die...!!"  
  
He wiped away the perspiration dripping down his forehead. ".....I wasn't Reno's target....so...so as soon as you fled, he chased after you.....and now Tseng's searching for you as well...looks like he wasn't lying when he said they had the entire damn Turk squad coming for you..."  
  
".....D...Damien?!" I suddenly exclaimed. "Damien....is he all right...?"  
  
".........He's fine...." Vincent reached forward and gently wiped away my tears with the heel of his palm. "You don't need to worry....about him...."  
  
I slowly glanced down towards the ground beneath me. ".......Yeah.....he's always been all right without me, hasn't he....?" I cast a glance over my shoulder, and slowly I felt a deadened realization settle over me like a tortuous mist. My vision snapped angrily over towards his face. "....but...but the rest....they're dead....You killed them all...! They all got caught in the crossfire--!!"  
  
"No, no, many escaped. Only a few lost their lives..."  
  
"....It doesn't matter...!" I climbed to my feet and turned my back to him. "You....you felt no guilt at simply pulling out your damn gun and firing mercilessly into a group of homeless teenagers that stood in the way of your target...!! And...and during the fight, you wounded an innocent girl and killed who knows how many others...!! Don't you care at all??! Don't you feel anything?!"  
  
He remained silent, like a shadow against the wall.  
  
"....No....no, you don't care, do you?!" I lifted my hands to my face as more tears welled up in my eyes. "How could you care?! You just shot dead a whole group of blameless kids without even flinching, and now you make everything seem ok by saying that 'only a few lost their lives'.....How could I even assume for a minute that you give a damn about anything?! You don't care....not in the least...!! The only one you worry about is yourself--!"  
  
A deathly silence ensued, and then I heard the sound of him shifting to his feet behind me. "..................Is that what you think....?" he asked me quietly, and I could hear the crunching of snow beneath him as he slowly began to approach my back. "..............That's what you've been thinking the whole time...?"  
  
I could feel my heart begin to flutter, and I could sense his presence standing only a foot or two behind me. "..............That's the impression you've received from me...?" he continued, and I could feel his eyes staring straight through me. "...That I have no emotion...? That I feel nothing but self-absorption....? Is that truly the way I appear to you...?"  
  
My breaths had suddenly become noticeably ragged, and I kneaded my sweaty hands nervously against my jeans. "......What sort of emotion would you expect me to show...?" his dark voice questioned me from only inches behind my back. "...The kind of emotion you see in yourself....or one you've never felt before...?"  
  
".......I...." I froze in place, staring anxiously down at my feet and deafened by my racing heartbeat. ".....I didn't mean....anything like..."  
  
I was cut off as a clamorous gunshot exploded from somewhere in the darkness, rebounding brightly off of the brick wall to my right. I let out a terrified scream and whirled towards the noise, and immediately I noticed the form of Reno sprinting madly out of the shadows towards me.  
  
".......Found ya, sweetheart!!" he laughed triumphantly, seizing the nightstick at his side. "How long did ya think it would take me to track you down??"  
  
"Get out of the way!!" Vincent's brutal shove propelled me to the ground, and I heard the noise of Reno's weapon shrieking through the air above me. "How did you find us, damn it?!" he snapped angrily, planting his feet and glaring over at his opponent.   
  
Reno smirked. "....Tseng radioed me and gave me the exact coordinates of your position. He's gonna kill ya when he finds ya, y'know. You really pissed him off wi' that wound you gave 'im in his shoulder."  
  
"..........He was lucky I let him live..." Vincent's eyes remained locked on Reno's foreboding form. "...Do you wish for a similar turnout...?"  
  
"Hey, I ain't takin' none 'a your crap!" Reno retorted, holding his nightstick protectively out in front of him. "I don't wanna deal wi' you....just give me the girl and I'll leave like nothin' happened."  
  
"..............Vincent.........." I choked quietly, drawing up close to him. "......Please don't...."  
  
"...She's not going with you," Vincent replied sternly, taking a step forward. "The ShinRa has always been composed of a clump of aberrant bastards.....I will not allow this girl to have anything to do with them as long as I breathe."  
  
".........Suit yourself..." Reno sneered, directing his eyes back towards Vincent's face. "...but remember, you was the one that suggested it....heheh...."  
  
All at once Vincent shoved me aside and rushed forward, leaping into the air and throwing out an forceful kick, which Reno dodged with a simple duck and whirled about with a lash of his weapon. Vincent bent over backwards, landing on the palms of his hands and flipping back to his feet, then hurled a menacing punch out towards his opponent's face. Reno smirked again, falling to his knees and sweeping a effectual low kick directly into Vincent's ankles, tearing his feet out from beneath him. Vincent plunged to his side and rolled over his right hip, eventually springing back onto his knees and thrusting his hand into his jacket towards his holster.  
  
Reno emitted an amused snort and swiped his nightstick in a wide arc before him, and with the loud clang of something colliding with metal I watched Vincent's revolver get knocked from his grasp and land delicately in Reno's free hand. There was a nauseating pause that turned the air thick around me, and slowly I observed Reno's face slowly twist into a triumphant grimace. "........................Distracted, Valentine...?" he taunted, spinning the gun carelessly about his pointer finger. ".........It looks like you've got somethin' else on your mind....heheh....."  
  
Vincent stood panting for several seconds, then slowly fell to his knees onto the snow. There was a powerful twinge of fear within my chest, and I withdrew several gradual feet backwards as Reno contemptuously began to circle Vincent with slow, mocking steps. ".......Whatcha got on your mind, Valentine...?" he scoffed, lifting his nightstick to his shoulder. "...You never let me beat you before.....what, now that's the best fight you're gonna give me....? And to give up so easily! You must not be completely focused on what you're doin', my friend."  
Reno seemed to be awaiting a response, and then after several moments of dense silence appeared to be annoyed at Vincent's lack of reaction. "...........What's 'a matter, Valentine, you think that bitch's actually Lucrecia?!"  
  
My body spontaneously jolted into a rigid halt, but I could see my heart pounding beneath my sweaty shirt.  
  
"....Yeah, that's it, isn't it?!" Reno emitted a chilling, jeering laugh and glared down at his rival's heaving form at his feet. "You used ta be rather fond of that whore, didn't you?? Practically obsessed, if I recall correctly....haha, has this new little slut made your head all fuzzy?! C'mon, Valentine, don't tell me you've gone soft!! One little hooker who looks like your old infatuation steps into the picture and all of a sudden your concentration is totally demolished?!"  
  
Vincent remained silent with the exception of his violent pants.  
  
"Hahaha!! You've gotten weak, my dear sir!!" Reno stopped his revolving Vincent's huffing body several inches behind his back, glaring tauntingly down at him with one eyebrow raised. "....Unfortunate. Heheh....Well, this is your lucky day, my dear sir, because I haven't the time or the patience to deal with you now." All of a sudden he swung his nightstick in a swift semicircle through the air before him, and with the deafening, blood-curdling sound noise of something cracking mercilessly against bone, Vincent collapsed lifelessly to his stomach onto the snow. Several trails of blood began to trickle across the pale dirt from the back of his neck.  
  
"...Heheheh..." Reno sneered down at Vincent's motionless frame against the snow, then pulled a handkerchief out from his pocket and indifferently wiped away the crimson splotches staining his nightstick. "...Actually, my dear Mr. Valentine, I'm rather disappointed at your sudden--"  
  
He was silenced as a tumultuous metallic clang echoed ruthlessly in the empty alleyway around him, and suddenly he tumbled sluggishly onto his hip beside Vincent. Panting, I drew backwards and stared blankly down at his inanimate body at my feet, dropping the garbage can lid in my hand to the ground. "....Wh...whoa..." I gawked vacantly at the fresh scarlet seeping onto the frost and shining conspicuously against the dull silver of the bucket's cover. "....I...I guess I hit him harder than I thought..."  
  
The following silence closed in around me like a suffocating epidemic.  
  
I continued staring disconcertedly at the two unconscious forms at my feet, then slowly lifted my vision towards the entranceway of the alley. ".......I've got to get away..." I told myself softly, turning on my heel and trudging swiftly out towards the light. "...I...I have to get home....I have to escape everything.....I just want it all to end...!"  
  
I had just about reached the opening leading out into the street when my eyes slowly crept down onto my left wrist.   
  
I came to a gradual halt, then lifted my hand to my face. I could see it--a disgustingly conspicuous scar raked straight across my skin, that had turned a revolting copper color from the first signs of recovering. I gently ran my fingers over it, then after a pause I cast a glance back over my shoulder into the darkness of the alley. I hesitated, then turned back around and took another step out towards the street, then finally paused, exhaled a breathless sigh, and wandered back the way I had come.   
  
Slowly Vincent's stationary body came into view, still sprawled out on its stomach across the crimson frost, and I gradually approached it with jaded steps, eyeing the form of Reno with apprehensive glances, kneeled down, slipped my hands beneath his armpits, and sluggishly began to drag him deeper into the alleyway. I was forced to pause after every step, almost overcome by his intense weight dropped on my weary muscles, and the progress I was making was hardly noticeable.  
  
A soft scuffling noise came from above my head, and as I slowly glanced up I noticed a shadowy figure crouched atop the brick wall beside me. I stared up towards it for a second, then slowly let out a fatigued breath. ".........Damien..." I whispered despondently. "....Please.....I need your help....."  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Eight  
  
I sat motionlessly on the scarlet couch, staring blankly down at the floor. The apartment about me had turned unusually cold, and I could feel my hands slowly beginning to turn numb. I had been sitting in this same position for probably close to an hour, after Damien and I had managed to carry Vincent back to his apartment and place him in the bathtub in order to clean the large gash that had formed on the back of his neck, and the room about me seemed to be becoming noticeably darker and cooler, so much so that occasionally I caught a glimpse of my breaths misting before my eyes.  
  
"............He's still unconscious, just to let you know."  
  
I slowly turned my head, then sluggishly noticed Damien standing with his arms crossed and his back leaned tiredly against the doorway leading into the corridor. I stared at him in silence for several seconds, then gradually turned back around and directed my vision towards the floor once again.  
  
I could feel his eyes on my back for a number of moments, and then he exhaled a sigh, left the potency of the wall, and came up behind me. ".........I'm tellin' ya, he's gonna be out for a while," he told me, leaning his elbows atop the back of the couch behind me. "My checkin' on 'im every five minutes ain't gonna change that. You just gotta take it easy, Liza.....Go get some air or somethin'. Your face has gone completely pale."  
  
I didn't react for a second, then slowly fluttered my eyes shut. "..............What if he dies......?"  
  
".....He ain't gonna die, Eliza. He's perfectly fine. The worst thing that could 'appen when he comes to is that he's got a concussion or somethin'. But I'm tellin' ya, Eliza, he ain't gonna die."  
  
I hesitated, then slowly exhaled a quiet sigh, lifting my hands to my face. "...................Why did I do it, Damien...?" I whispered hoarsely, opening my eyes and spilling tears down my cheeks.   
  
".........Hmm....?"  
  
"..........Why did I do it.....?" I repeated, staring blankly down at the blurry image of the floorboards beneath my feet. ".........Why did I come back....? Why didn't I just head home.....why didn't I just go where it was safe and I could forget all about this...? Now I'm stuck here in this goddam hell and I can't escape......why...? Why did I do this to myself....?...."  
  
"..........................Eliza..........." Damien watched me silently for several seconds, then slowly walked around and sank slowly into the cushion beside me. ".......C'mon, Eliza...." he reassured me softly, placing a gentle arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him. ".....You ain't done nothin', ya hear? You're gonna be ok, all right? As soon as this guy wakes up and you don't feel obligated to watch after 'im no more, I'm gonna bring you back home, and everythin'll go back ta normal..."  
  
".............I can't go back now...." I choked throatily, raising my hands to my face once again. "........Not anymore.......They're all dead, Damien......How can I face that now....?"  
  
"...........Shhh...they ain't all dead, Eliza.....you'll see, as soon as I bring ya home, it'll be ok..." He gently reached forward and grasped my chin, then slowly lifted my face and placed a light kiss against my lips.   
  
I breathed out a weary sigh, drawing back against the pillow behind me, then raised my hands to my cheeks and wiped away the tears from my eyes. Damien delicately brushed the bangs dropping over my complexion, then leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the forehead. "......It'll be all right, you'll see..."  
  
He was cut off from saying anything more as a loud knocking noise came from the doorway below. Immediately I sat straight upwards with a breathless gasp, clasping both hands across my chest. "......It's... him....!" I choked raspily, covering my mouth with my hands. "....He's...he's found me again....I knew I couldn't escape.......!!"  
  
".....Don't move," Damien instructed me firmly, getting to his feet and angrily approaching the doorway. "I'll kick this bastard's ass, I will!!"  
  
".....Damien, stop--!!" I watched him rip open the door and storm furiously down the stairwell, then slowly sank back down into a sitting position. ".......Oh.....oh my God....." I stammered hoarsely. ".....He's...he's everywhere, I can't get--"  
  
Suddenly I froze as I could feel a pair of expressionless eyes boring angrily into my back. Slowly I forced myself to turn my head around, and immediately I drew in a startled gasp as I noticed the disheveled form of Vincent glaring emptily at my face from the doorway leading into the living room. "...V....Vincent..." I stuttered in surprise, gradually shifting to my feet and turning to face him but not leaving the stability of the couch before me. ".....You...you woke up...?"  
  
He didn't reply, only continued to gaze straight through me, then slowly took several steps into the room. My breath involuntarily got caught in my parched throat, and I stifled the urge to stagger several defensive steps backwards. ".......You...you scared me...." I stammered unsteadily, forcing a weary smile. "....I....I thought that...that maybe you had died.....and that you never would forgive me.......Are you ok now...? How does your head feel?.......Sorry about putting you in the bathtub, but Damien and I really didn't know where else to....." I found my voice unintentionally dissolving away before it escaped my throat.  
  
His scarlet eyes pierced straight through my body, and I could feel their fiery gaze igniting a vicious stab of fear within my stomach. The deathly silence his speechlessness beckoned was beginning to slide chillingly across the back of my neck and cascade down my spine. "......................Is..........is something wrong........?" I managed to choke through the thick muzzle of muteness cinched across my lips, feeling the hands hidden behind my back beginning to tremble inadvertently. "..........Are.......aren't you going to say anything.....?....What......what's the matter......?"  
  
My body turned stiff as he suddenly approached me with a series of gradual steps, halting maybe three or four inches before me, and stared woodenly down into my face. Some sort of suppressed fury burned conspicuously behind his crimson eyes, and all at once he turned his head towards the stairway, where the sound of Tifa, Cloud, and Damien's voices all erupted simultaneously, as if some sort of altercation had begun abruptly. I breathed out a soft sigh of relief and lifted my hands to my heart. ".......................It wasn't him......." I sighed happily. "....It was only Tifa and Cloud........he didn't find me after all......."  
  
I turned silent once again as Vincent shot one final blank glare back into my face, then slowly turned and made his way over towards the door and eventually disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell. All at once I found myself alone in the apartment.  
  
........................What.................what was that.........? I questioned myself, staring after him for several seconds. ......Why....why did he turn so angry all of a sudden.....?...............Is.........is he mad that he had to save me from those two men.....?......Or.....or was it something else.......?......But.....but what did I do.......?  
  
I breathed out a soft sigh and slowly directed my vision towards the floor, brushing aside a lock of hair that fell limply before my eyes. .................I don't understand him.......I don't think I ever will......  
  
There was a sudden malicious chill that snapped through my body, and I watched as my breath began to unexpectedly mist before my eyes. ....What....what the hell....? My vision leapt from the carpet beneath me to the room I stood in. ....Where...where'd this sudden blast of cold air come from....??  
  
I stopped in place as a soft sound came faintly from somewhere behind me.  
  
I remained tense for several seconds, then slowly turned my head. The noise came again, muffled by the distance between us from somewhere down the corridor. I stared out towards it for several seconds, my quiet breaths creating small knots of haze in the icy air, then took several steps in the direction of the hallway. ".....That sound....." I whispered softly, continuing gradually into the foyer. ".....I've heard it before.....What is it.....?"  
  
The noise came a third time, more recognizable this time by the ground I had covered, and soon I could perceive the sound of a baby's desperate wails. The cold around me turned noticeably more intense, numbing my skin and turning my lips a faint blue color. The infant screamed again, choking tearfully on restrained sobs, growing progressively louder as my footsteps continued down the hallway. My bare feet had turned deadened against the floor beneath me, and I could no longer feel the carpet brushing lightly against my skin. I proceeded deeper into the corridor, walking through the mist each breath summoned up before me and glancing hazily into each room I passed. The newborn let out another lachrymose screech from further down the hallway.  
  
.................Don't cry........... I thought mistily, gradually approaching Vincent's bedchamber before me. .......I'm here now, no need to be afraid..............You'll be all right now, I'm here with you......  
  
Slowly I creaked open the door and took several gradual steps into the bedroom.  
  
*****  
  
"...........Vincent, are you all right??" Tifa gasped in shock as his tousled form emerged from the front door out onto the front step, brushing aside several tangled strands of ebony hair. She and Cloud had finished closing up the bar for the day and had decided to visit Vincent but had met a furious Damien at the doorway.  
  
"....Whoa, Vin-man, what the hell happened??!" Cloud exclaimed, scratching at the back of his head. "Where have you been?!"  
  
"....................It's nothing...." he replied monotonously after a dense pause, gazing blankly past them out towards the road. "...................I'm perfectly fine.............."  
  
".....You know this pair of fags?!" Damien snapped nastily, pointing over towards them. "....And you would let 'em come bargin' over here without no warning??!"  
  
Vincent remained silent, continuing to stare blankly out towards the street before him. "........................It doesn't matter.........."  
  
Tifa glanced worriedly over towards his face. ".......Vincent, what's--"   
  
She was silenced as a sudden piercing scream erupted abruptly through the stairwell above them, then bluntly ended as unexpectedly as it had begun. A deathly silence ensued afterwards, like the stillness succeeding a grenade detonation.  
  
Damien drew in a startled gasp and whirled back towards the door, then took off in a furious rush towards the stairwell. "Eliza!!!!!"  
  
There was a deafening slamming noise as he viciously threw open the door, revealing an empty, silent living room. "Eliza!!" he called breathlessly, feeling the panicked forms of Tifa, Cloud and Vincent dashing up behind him. "Eliza, where the hell are you??!"  
  
His vision snapped hastily back and forth across the room, and suddenly he sprinted forwards, into the hallway. "Eliza!!!" He emitted a frightened shout as my unconscious body came into view, sprawled on its back on the floor, its eyes, frozen open by a sudden ambush of insensibility, gaping blankly up at the ceiling overhead.  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Nine  
  
".............It's no use...." Tifa sighed in defeat, wringing out the damp towel in her hand and placing it lightly back atop my forehead. "......Her fever's getting worse....and I can't seem to break it...."  
  
My body, reclined beneath several layers of various quilts and sheets atop Vincent's bed, continued to shiver violently and sweat, causing my unconscious form to writhe and twist in agony, as if tortured by relentless nightmares. My face, noticeably flushed from the intense pyrexia, had become considerably damp with perspiration, and my breaths came out ragged and forced.  
  
Cloud, sitting backwards in a chair by the bedside, ran a hand through his hair. "..............Do you think she'll be all right....?"  
  
"..................I think so...." Tifa turned to face him, stroking a strand of brown hair that fell before her eyes away with her fingers. ".....I...I managed to get her out of her sweaty clothing into an old button-down shirt of yours, Cloud, so that might help some..........But....but where this fever came from...and so suddenly.....it could be serious...."  
  
Vincent, who stood silently at the doorway leading into the bedroom, cast a glance towards her.  
  
"..........Ughh.....nnnnn....!!" My insensate frame continued to shudder and turn restlessly on the mattress, spilling droplets of sweat spilling down my crimson cheeks and across my eyes, which were sealed shut from the torment of incubuses that lashed out mockingly within my mind.   
  
Damien, who sat on the edge of the bed beside me, cast a melancholy glance down at my writhing body. ".....It....it looks like she's bein' constantly tortured in her dreams....."  
  
".....................It's best if we just leave her for now...." Tifa said softly, exhaling a sigh and gradually shifting to her feet. "........We should just see how she fares tomorrow........The best thing we can do at the moment is let her sleep and allow the fever to break on its own...."  
  
".................I'm stayin'," Damien declared after a pause, directing his vision up towards her. "........I'm gonna stay the night here with Eliza till I know she's ok."  
  
"................................Like hell you are." Vincent finally left his position against the doorframe and came up behind Cloud. "There's no way I'm about to let you stay here," he retorted darkly, glaring over towards my companion through irritated scarlet eyes. "Eliza will be fine. I'm not about to have your whole goddam assembly of pickpockets watching after the poor girl. Go home."  
  
"...Hey, you wait just a second, you lousy son of a--"  
  
"....Please, Damien," Tifa interrupted pleadingly, glancing over towards him. "...May...maybe Vincent's right. Let's just leave it at this..."  
  
Damien remained silent for several moments, then breathed out a restless sigh, got to his feet, and left the room.  
  
*****  
  
".......Are you sure you'll be all right....?" Tifa questioned worriedly, casting one last glance back in towards Vincent as she stood at the top of the staircase. "....That wound on your head.....It won't--"  
  
"...I'll be fine," Vincent assured her. "It's getting late now....You should have left with that Damien kid two hours ago. You didn't have to stay this long. Just go home, I'll be perfectly all right."  
  
".................If you say so...." Tifa sighed and glanced down the stairwell after Cloud as he headed out towards the bottom door. "....Just please, take it easy. I....I know what you think about her, but please--please--don't get carried away....she'll be all right, I know she will..."   
  
".......................You should head home before it starts snowing again."  
  
"............Vincent...." she whispered hurriedly, casting a glance over her shoulder before she started down the stairs after Cloud. "...........Be careful, please......I....I was walking past your bedroom a few minutes ago, and....and I heard someone crying....." She directed her vision down towards her feet, immersed in some sort of thought. ".....I....I automatically assumed it was Allie sobbing in her sleep, but....something about her voice....it wasn't right, Vincent....Please....don't get too close to her until we know she's all right, ok....?"  
  
"....Good night, Tifa." Vincent watched after her as she slowly descended the staircase, but he hesitated before softly shutting the door and heading back into the darkness of the living room.  
  
*****  
  
The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed twelve times.  
  
Vincent slowly ran his eyes over the words printed on the book in his hands, bathed in the dim golden lighting emanating from the feeble lamp situated on the table beside him. The soft sound of snow and ice tapping delicately against the window swept melodiously about him, like the enchanting whisper of an invisible temptress. He rested his chin against the palm of his hand, distantly flipping the page in the publication he was perusing and exhaling a weary sigh. A whisking squall fluttered lightly against the windowpane, causing the dizzying whirl of snow to dance around in a wondrous spectacle of feathers against darkness.  
  
An ominous shiver ran through Vincent's veins.  
  
He froze for a second, then felt his breaths gradually emerge into the air as tufts of mist. He hesitated for a second, staring blankly over his book towards the floor. The sleet continued to beat against the window.  
  
There was a thick, nauseating pause. Vincent's exhalations continued to fog in the air.  
  
A soft creaking noise came from behind him.  
  
His body turned tense, then slowly reached upwards and gently pulled his reading glasses from his face. The sound came again, from the depths of the hallway behind him, significantly louder and longer this time, like a door slowly being pushed open. Vincent continued to gaze down at the floor, the icy air encircling his body like a tortuous snare, then gradually placed his glasses down on the table alongside him.  
  
Another squeaking noise came from behind him, considerably different than the first, not the squeal of rusted hinges but more like the sliding of staggering footsteps across floorboards, growing tediously louder as they proceeded down the hallway towards his back.   
  
His eyes never left the floor, but the clusters of breath appearing before him had become ragged and short.  
  
The noise continued to grow louder as they grew closer to his back, agonizingly slow and eerie in the darkness about him, slowly blending into the sound of snow ricocheting against the window. Vincent swallowed, listening to the advancing footsteps brush against the back of his neck. His eyes slid silently to the right, and the hand laid upon his knee slowly tightened into a tense fist.  
  
All at once the sound stopped.  
  
Vincent froze, attempting to hear any further noise from behind him. The weather outside beat relentlessly against the windowframe in the darkness, and the lamp situated at his side dimmed slightly into the depravity. He forced himself to shift up with his back pressed against the couch behind him, then immediately spun about to face the doorway.  
  
A dark shadow sat leaning against the doorpost.  
  
Vincent gaped at the form for several seconds, then slowly turned his whole body towards it. The former silence slid back into the misted air. ".....................................Y....................You......................" Vincent stammered after a pause, feeling a heavy lump settle into this tight throat. "..............What........what are you doing......?.........."  
  
I continued to stare over at him through dark, misted eyes, resting heavily against the doorframe beside me. I was clothed only in a baggy white button-down shirt that almost fell to my knees and dropped down one shoulder. My face had turned significantly paler and painted with several droplets of sweat, hidden beneath numerous locks of damp blond hair that sprawled across my complexion. My breaths were heavy and long, hazing softly in the cold air creeping into the room, escaping the icy, conniving smirk that had lurked up onto my ashen countenance.  
  
"................Why........why did you get up....?...." he asked me softly, gradually faltering up onto his feet. "......That fever you had developed.........it could get worse if you don't rest....."  
  
I didn't move from my position against the doorpost, leaning all my weight against the frame and staring over at him through unfocused, sullen eyes. All at once my sneer grew larger, and a series of amused, malicious laughs escaped my lips. Vincent gaped over at me in silence, shifting an involuntary step backwards, and felt some sort of unusual emotion tearing viciously into his stomach. "...............What....what are you doing...?" he inquired placidly, watching me continue to giggle maniacally in the dim light of the lamp beside him. "............Allie, you're ill.......you.....you shouldn't be--"  
  
".........Always the polite one, aren't you, Mr. Valentine...?" I asked him raspily, finally ceasing my sudden laughter and grinning derisively over towards him.  
  
He froze. "...............What....?"  
  
"....Heheh...." I finally left the doorpost and staggered several drunken steps into the room. "........Oh come now, don't tell me you've forgotten me...? I could pick you out of a crowd anywhere, I could, since you appear to have stayed reasonably unchanged these past decades....Heheh, I suppose I haven't quite been as fortunate...."  
  
"..........." Vincent gawked blankly over towards me, then stumbled back another foot or two. ".....Allie, have you gone insane....? I....I know it's just the fever talking, but--"  
  
"....Hahahaha!!! Is that what you think, my dear Mr. Valentine?" I interrupted mockingly, gazing over towards him from beneath my sweaty bangs. "That I'm just the demented ramblings of some sort of influenza...? Heheh......Vincent, my dear bastard, you really haven't changed at all....But changed enough that you can't even recognize the sound of my voice....."  
  
Vincent stared straight through me for several moments, then choked on an escaping gasp and toppled numerous steps regressively. "...............What..........what the hell.............No, no, that's insane--!!"  
  
"...Is it really, Mr. Valentine...?" I scoffed tauntingly, now maybe two or three feet before him. "So much so that you won't even believe your ears....? Then why stalk this poor girl for so long....?"  
  
"...............Allie, go back to bed......." Vincent ordered hoarsely, his panting breaths appearing hazily in the air before him. "............This is one hell of a fever you've got......and not going to have it drive me insane as well....."  
  
I threw back my head and emitted another loud, contemptuous laugh. ".......Is that what I'm doing to you, Vincent...?" I mocked, wavering another two steps towards him. "Am I driving you insane...? Poor baby....How terrible it is that you finally receive a dose of your own medicine...."  
  
"........................How are you doing this.........?" he stuttered unsteadily, pressing himself protectively back against the wall. "................It's..........it's impossible.............but...but I'd recognize the sound of your voice from anywhere.....!!"  
  
"Heheh....you were a little.....obsessed with me, weren't you...?" I chuckled darkly, shifting myself up before him and glaring scornfully up into his face. ".......Is that why you've been following this girl around everywhere, Vincent....? You think she's me....?"  
  
"................L.............Lucrecia......." A dim tint of scarlet had spread across Vincent's sweating complexion. ".......It's....it's you.........the one that's been haunting me day and night for thirty years...!!!!"  
  
"...Hmph." I smirked, then seized him lightly by the collar and pulled his face closer to mine. "....You do have a one-track mind, don't you.....?...Though I must say, I am rather flattered that I managed to make such an impression on a bastard like yourself..."  
  
".............I......" Vincent's body had subtly begun to quiver, and all at once he whipped aside and escaped from my grip, staggering several clumsy feet back into the living room.  
  
"........What's the matter, Vincent...?" I asked him derisively, leaning confidently back against the wall behind me. "Thirty years ago you're completely captivated by me and now suddenly you're terrified...?...Heheh...I don't think you know what you want, Mr. Valentine...."  
  
"......Ugghh..." Vincent forced himself to swallow, then shakily leaned his weight against the chair beside him in order to avoid collapsing. ".............Why won't you leave me alone, Lucrecia....?.....Why...why must you torture me for the rest of my life.......?..."  
  
"...Because you won't die, dammit!!" I snapped furiously, thrusting an enraged finger out towards him. "....You want to know why I can't simply let you waste away?! Because you goddam won't, you bastard!! You'll never feel the pain I went through!! You'll never know the agony of death!! You'll never know what it's like to be betrayed and double-crossed by your own goddam companion!!"  
  
"........Have...haven't you made me suffer enough....?...." he questioned hoarsely, feeling the agonizing passion from earlier cleave mercilessly through his gut. ".......I....I never meant to betray you....and...and yet I haven't been able to sleep....I live with this arm, this face...........Lucrecia, I...I only wanted to help you.....I only wanted you to fall in love with me...."  
  
I was now bent at the waist, gazing drunkenly down at the floor with my face hidden by a mass of blond knots cascading down over my pale skin. Several moments of silence passed, and all of a sudden my shoulders began to quiver.  
  
I slowly lifted my face, casting my hair back over my shoulders and revealing an amused smirk and two trails of tears sliding down my cheeks. "......Heheh......Vincent, you're so naive....." I staggered several steps towards him, standing only several inches from him once more. "...How can you think for one moment that all the scars you received in life can possibly live up to the hell I was forced to waste away in....?"  
  
I suddenly grasped onto his collar angrily and whipped him roughly into the chair situated near the large window, then stormed forward and stood before him. ".....You can possibly think that you could make it up to me...?" I chuckled mockingly, placing a knee on either side of him and leaning in towards his face. "...Worthless bastard......are you going to deceive this poor little bitch as well...?"  
  
".....Ughh......." Vincent stared towards my face through incomprehensive scarlet eyes, and several droplets of sweat slithered down his toneless countenance. "........L.....Lucrecia.......what....what do you want from me....?...."  
  
".........Heheh...." I slowly leaned forward and placed my lips up against his ear. "....To destroy you like you destroyed me."  
  
"....Nnnnn....!" Vincent gaped towards my smirking face disorientedly, watching me gently seize a lock of his hair and entwine it around my fingertips. "........No......you leave Allie out of this.......Your bout is with me and only me, Lucrecia......I won't have you harming her simply because you want to get to me...."  
  
"...Alas, the girl is a sacrifice, sadly enough..." I admitted leeringly, slowly pulling his face towards mine. "...But, it is a small price to pay for the revenge I will finally receive. I need a gate to get to you, my dear Vincent....this young woman seems to do the trick, no...? Heheh..."  
  
".....What....what the hell are you doing...??" he choked in shock as I reached forward and unbuttoned the top two clasps on his black tunic, and his face turned a noticeably darker shade of crimson.  
  
I sneered amusedly up towards his blushing complexion, emphasizing the motion as I snapped open his third buckle. ".....Heheheheh....I know what gets to you, Vincent......I'm going to eradicate you, Mr. Valentine, mentally and physically........This ought to cripple your last stroke of sanity, eh...?" I let out a jeering laugh as he continued to gape up at my face with his hazy breaths misting into the air before me. ".....What's the matter, Vincent...? Thirty years ago and you would have died happy to have me this close to you.....What happened, Mr. Valentine?? Hm?? You afraid to answer me???"  
  
"....Uughhh..." Vincent's vision fell to the floor beneath him, and I could feel his panting breaths brushing against my stomach.  
  
"....Whatsa matter, Mr. Valentine?" I whispered tauntingly, slipping my arms around his neck and pulling him close to me. "Are you scared? Heheh...poor Vincent.....you never really did know what to do with yourself, did you....?" I stared down at him for several seconds, then leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly with a mocking kiss. "..........Now you'll have nothing to worry about...."  
  
Vincent felt a sharp internal jolt as a cold metallic object pressed up against his throat, and with one quick glance downwards he could see the glinting form of his revolver grasped tightly in my right hand and aimed straight at his neck. ".........It's over, Valentine...." I hissed victoriously, slowly cocking the weapon in my hand. "You thought I'd forget about you after death.......Heheh.....Truth is, I was only messing with you......"  
  
Vincent gaped woodenly up at my smirking face, then slowly fluttered his eyes shut. Dimly he could hear the sound of my amused chuckle echoing in the darkness about him. "........What's this, Vincent....? Can't you fight me back...? Heheheh..."  
  
Warm liquid splattered against Vincent's bare chest.  
  
Vincent cringed for a second, then gradually opened his eyes and gazed in astonishment down at his heaving torso. Numerous droplets of blood trickled in conflicting streaks down his colorless skin.  
  
He gaped at himself in bewilderment for several moments, then languidly elevated his gaze to my face above him. I was gawking blankly past him with shocked, unfocused eyes, feeling the steady rivulet of blood streaming relentlessly from my mouth and flowing down my chin. I tediously lifted my free hand to my lips, then stared unabashedly at the ribbons of scarlet streaking across my palm. "..........Wh.....what.....?..." I choked hoarsely, gradually feeling the gun in my hand slip free from my clutch and fall dully to the carpet. ".....What...the hell.....?....."  
  
Vincent watched me vacantly as I exhaled a choked moan and collapsed backwards, toppling awkwardly off his lap and landing heavily on my back onto the floor. Drops of crimson sprinkled misshapenly across the floor. "...Ughhh...." I gagged feebly as I lifted my hand to my mouth again and blood streamed between my fingers. ".........What.....what the hell are you doing??!"  
  
Vincent stumbled roughly to his feet, his open shirt revealing his blood-stained chest panting heavily in the darkness, and gaped down at my writing form at his feet.  
  
"....You.......you stupid bitch!!!" I shrieked harshly, clawing angrily at my enflamed stomach and emitting another ear-piercing shriek of agony. "Are...are you fuckin' out of your mind?!! Aghhh...!! What the fuck are you trying to prove??!!" I choked pathetically, causing numerous more beads of scarlet streaking across the floor. I shuttered violently for a moment or so, then twisted viciously as another contortion gripped my body. "Dammit!! I...won't...give...in!!!!" Another smothered howl escaped my blood-stained lips, and immediately I began to tear maliciously at my skin. "You...you goddam whore!!! You think...you can subdue me...??! Aghhhh!!!" I sputtered angrily, strangled by the remorseless flow of blood absconding my throat. Gradually my violent chokes became mollified and fainter, and though my breaths heaved viciously I slowly shifted onto my side and huddled against myself, shuttering mutely and panting. "....Brrrrr...." I whispered quietly after a pause, squeezing my eyes shut and grabbing hold of my arms in order to warm myself. A quiet sob escaped my lips, and I hid my flushed countenance beneath the loose strands of blond tangled hair that fell across my face.  
  
Vincent continued to stare down at my quivering form against the carpet, then gradually bent at the knees beside me, reached out a shuddering hand, hesitated, and placed it gently against my trembling shoulder. "....L......Lucrecia........?" he called softly. ".....Lucrecia, can you hear me....?"  
  
I shivered again and clutched my arms again, emitting another subtle lament and burying my face into the sanguineous carpet beneath me. "..............Nnnnnn.....Damien.........."  
  
Vincent gazed down at my shaking figure for several more seconds, then slowly extended his hand forward and brushed aside the locks of sweaty hair masking my face, revealing a pair of tears sliding down my cheeks, escaping from my closed eyes locked away in slumber. Vincent stared at my dreaming face for several seconds longer, and soon all surroundings faded away into the tapping of sleet against glass.  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Ten  
  
".................Let the hell go of me!!!!!"  
  
I lashed out violently, grappling furiously against some sort of latent force constricting my body in a suffocating, unbreakable grip. I could feel its compressing strength clamping about my arms, my waist, my legs--I soon found myself frozen in a stiff, rigid stance atop my feet. "....Uuughh..." I struggled futilely to contest my invisible opponent a second time, swaying unstablily off balance and finally managing to tear free my arms. I thrashed out about me, finally driving away the antagonistic dynamism and expelling it into the depths of the thick air surrounding me.   
  
I stood, staring after the pellucid form gradually dissolving into my surroundings of vitreous, swirling aerospace, then slowly lifted a hand to my heaving bosom. "...Unnn...I...I did it......I won...."  
  
I exhaled a fatigued breath, lifting a hand to my face and brushing aside the locks of blond hair spilling across my face. "...........What.....what the hell was that...? All of a sudden this power leaps out of nowhere and attempts to suffocate me........I...I think I saw my life flash before my eyes for a second there..." My eyes climbed to my disturbed surroundings, lashed by a fierce gust of wind. ".....................Where........where am I.......?" I asked quietly, turning around in a complete circle and bracing myself against another vicious assault of air. ".......It's so empty.......I don't understand...."   
  
A piercing sirocco snapped angrily around my body, causing a startled cry to escape my lips and sending me collapsing onto my knees. I shielded my head for several moments, then blinked various times. The scenery about me had turned noticeably quieter and tranquil. Slowly I lifted my head from my arms and gazed about me, then slowly climbed to my feet.  
  
I stood concentrically in a vast tile room atop a expansive blanket of reflective black and white checkered tile, surrounded by a number of tall white pillars sewn together by velvet streamers of crimson. The dense air enfolding my body echoed with the faint sound of a distant orchestra performing, and gradually before my eyes I beheld an innumerable amount of waltzing partners surfacing into the darkness. "......Wh....what....?" I slowly rotated in one full circle, gaping blankly at the wooden figures swaying romantically across the tile, seemingly oblivious to my presence. All that was audible was the faded aria of the abstracted symphony continuing to play and the sound of dresses and shoes brushing softly against the floor.  
  
Suddenly my eyes fell to an isolated form positioned against the dark wall to my right.  
  
It was a tall young man, with short black hair falling just past the nape of his neck, dressed in an unusually familiar navy blue uniform. He was massaging his temples with his left hand, as if attempting to stifle some sort of malicious pounding within his skull, then slowly lifted his head and indifferently surveyed the copious amount of waltzing dyads before him. I emitted a breathless gasp as I noticed the man's face, distinctively attractive with a pair of enigmatic blue eyes and considerably recognizable. ....That man..... I thought silently, lifting a hand to my mouth. .....Where...where have I seen him before....?  
  
The man exhaled an inaudible sigh, casting his vision down towards the tile beneath his feet and taking a sip out of the wine glass in his hand. I staggered a faltering step towards him, attempting to catch another glance of his countenance. ....I know him.....he's so familiar.....oh God, if only I could place his face...!  
  
He slowly lifted his glance from the tile a second time, gazing back out into the group of dancers and scanning the room, then grew to a spontaneous halt as his eyes fell to my form in the center of the room.  
  
I felt an internal jolt as I watched him gape in astonishment at my solitary figure amongst the dancing couplets, and soon I could feel a noticeably hot blush seeping its way up into my cheeks. He continued to gawk conspicuously at my face, then gradually reached to the side, placed his wine glass down on the large table beside him, and took several progressive steps onto the floor.   
  
A second agitation snapped eminently through my body, and this time I could even visibly see the shudder that spread throughout my extremities. He slid past several dancers, continuing to stare over at me through astounded blue eyes. As he drew closer I began to notice that his vision did not appear to be watching my form, and my notion was proved correct as he simply swept through me, as if I was not even standing before him and was nothing but an intangible illusion standing silently in the center of the floor. I stood blinking for several seconds, then gradually turned my head and watched after him.  
  
The man continued away from me, his shoes tapping lightly against the tile floor, and across the room I could see the form of a woman standing alone against the opposite wall, dressed elaborately in a silken pale azure gown and with long, curled blond hair held elegantly atop her head. As the man approached her from behind, she slowly circled about to face him, revealing her refined, pale complexion and a pair of dim blue eyes.  
  
I watched in stupefaction as the man began to speak to the woman, placing one hand behind his back and extending the other towards her, bending at the waist. The lady gazed in wonder at his offering palm, then placed one hand on her cheek and replied. Their conversation was completely muted by the feeble orchestration droning on obscurely from somewhere in the surrounding darkness.  
  
The woman said something else, then gradually reached her hand forward into the man's, and together they took several steps into the depths of the waltzing crowds, disappearing from my vision.   
  
I stared around me in shock as everything slowly became consumed by the impending darkness, languidly drawn into the impenetrable shadows slinking from the borders of the room. I emitted a startled gasp and spun about several times as the darkness slithered in about me and closed together beneath my bare feet, enveloping me in a dense sheet of confining blackness. The deafening silence tore viciously at my ears, and suddenly I became aware of the sound of echoing footsteps gradually approaching me from behind. Immediately I whirled around, hysterically scanning the murkiness enclosing my body, but the advancing noise continued towards me. A merciless grip seized my throat, and as I gazed downwards I could see the shadows gradually slinking up my legs, pulling me into the depths of the torturous malignancy of my mind.  
  
*****  
  
"......Unnnn...." A thin tear slid silently down my cheek, and I shifted onto my stomach and buried my face into the pillow before me. I could feel how cold my fingers had grown against the bedsheets, and I slowly forced them into a quivering fist and pulled them up beside me. Slowly my eyelids fluttered open, and faintly I could perceive the form of the tear-stained blankets beneath my face. "....Ugh..." I stirred myself up into a groggy sitting position, ignoring the knotted blond bangs that dwindled before my eyes, and cast several muddled glances around me. "...........Vin...Vincent's bedroom.....?" I whispered hoarsely, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "....How...how did I end up in here....?" My vision suddenly fell to my torso, and I let out a disgusted snort as I noticed the sweaty button-down shirt I was clad in. "..............What the hell?"  
  
I staggered to my feet, clumsily kicking aside the bedsheets that clung to my shins. "...........Ok, what the hell is going on here....? Where'd that ballroom go...? And why am I in here in the first place...?" I seized the doorknob of the closed postern leading into the room, then let out an aggravated mumble as it gave off a tense rattle and refused to move. ".............Locked...? Is that idiot out of his mind...??" I gave another tug on the knob, cursing angrily, then turned on my heel and tottered awkwardly back into the room. My eyes fell to my reflection in the mirror.  
  
"...............What the hell happened to me?" I ran my icy fingers gently over my cheek, gaping in distaste and my tousled form staring back at me. ".....My eyes....they're all red and swollen....like I was crying all night..." I wiped my mouth a second time, then gazed down at the crusted dried blood that flaked off onto my skin. "...Yuck. Where'd that come from...?"  
  
There was a slight pause that wafted around me, and slowly I directed my vision up towards the secured door before me. Beside it sat a large bag filled with various pieces of clothing, and I nonchalantly sauntered over and chose out a matching ensemble of a tank top and jeans, stripping off the damp button-down garment and dropping it carelessly to the floor.  
  
All of a sudden a vicious clamor erupted from the window behind me.  
  
Immediately I drew in a sharp gasp, whirling about and dashing shakily over to the pane and gazed downwards. ".........The hell??" I watched in bewilderment as I spotted a large crowd of at least twenty soldiers garbed in a sickening forest green color strutting down the road towards me, shouting orders to each other and loading large machine guns at their side. I felt a powerful blow lurch into my stomach, and immediately I fled from the window, staggering back into the center of the room. "....N...no....!" I heard myself choke hoarsely. "...You....you will not take me.....!!!"  
  
All at once I spun back towards the door and fired myself towards it, slamming heavily into the frame with my shoulder. I pulled backwards, panting, then lunged forwards again and flung myself into the locked postern a second time. "...Damn you!!" I rasped furiously, jerking back and cracking against the door. "Damn you!!"  
  
Suddenly there was a wrenched squeal, and unexpectedly I felt the hatch give way beneath my shoulder and collapse lifelessly onto the carpet. Huffing, I wavered clumsily into the room, staring down at the door at my feet. ".........Oh....oh my God....." I wheezed in astonishment. "....Where....where the hell did that come from...?"  
  
Faintly I could hear the bellowing of the troops through the window from the room behind me, and then a fiery stab of torment abruptly erupted in my stomach. "....Ugghh..." I moaned harshly, clasping my arms across my belly and stooping at the waist, casting my hair across my face. "....What....what is this...?!"  
  
I drew in an inaudible breath of surprise as I spotted Vincent positioned at the large window overlooking the street, gawking over at me through stunned crimson eyes. I stared back at him for several seconds, then forced myself to stand upright, brushing the loose bangs from before my eyes.  
  
His vision suddenly whipped back out through the window, and faintly from below I could hear the malicious pounding of fists against the door on the bottom floor. ".......They're here....." he murmured quietly. ".....Dammit......I didn't expect this so soon....."  
  
".....V...Vincent!!" I cried despondently, racing towards him. "What in the--"  
  
His vision snapped over towards my face, where it sat for several seconds, and then he slowly lifted a hand and swept the strands of hair away from before my eyes. "...........Answer me, quickly........Can you see me, Allie...?"  
  
".....Wh...what...??" I blinked. "...Y...yes....why??"  
  
"..............Here....How many fingers am I holding up?"  
  
".......Four. Have you gone completely--"  
  
"....All right." He cast one swift glance out through the window as the tumultuous thundering came from the door below us a second time. "You're ok, then.....Thank God..."  
  
"......What the hell--!!"  
  
"..........Allie, those troops are from the ShinRa," Vincent interrupted me. "The same people that sent out Reno and the others in order to murder you. I....I didn't think they'd find where I was keeping you so soon."  
  
"....Wh...what??" I blinked again, lifting my hands to my chest. "...The...the ShinRa...?"  
  
"....Yes..." His voice was nearly drowned out by the resounding sound of fists slamming against wood that echoed in the stairwell. ".....They're here to get you, Allie. If they couldn't do it subtlely with the Turks, I knew they were going to dispatch the units......Goddammit....!"  
  
"...Vi....Vincent!!" I exclaimed frantically, watching him whirl angrily away from the window and storm deeper into the room. "...What...what are...!!"  
  
"....All right, Allie, you're going to listen to me and you're going to listen to me good." He stopped abruptly and trudged back towards me, seizing my arms. "If they catch you, their going to kill you. I know that, and I'm pretty sure you do too." I could hear the clamorous sound of shouting voices and pounding continuing to snap up the stairwell. "............................The bookcase...." Vincent told me quietly through panting breaths. ".....Go out through it again. But...but this time, you can't escape out into my cemetery. The bastards have got the entire goddam building surrounded..."  
  
I cringed as the pounding began again, this time followed by an earsplitting peal as the door below was torn from its hinges. Momentous footsteps were now besieging up the stairwell, and I watched as Vincent whirled towards the doorway before him as the slamming began again. A commanding voice rang out from behind the locked postern, echoing violently off the narrow walls surrounding it, but its vicious orders were blurred together into a deafening roar of thudding against plywood and my own hammering pulse.  
  
"................Move the bookcase and go down the stairs...." Faintly outside my frenzied subconscious I could hear the sound of Vincent softly continuing to instruct me, and I could dimly feel his warm breaths grazing my countenance. "......But keep going to your right. It will lead you to the catacombs. All the gravesites in Midgar are connected through the underground channels.......Make your way across town and don't stop."  
  
".............I.....I can't........." I sobbed quietly, closing my eyes. "...I can't go down there again...."  
  
".......Allie, please, you've got to listen to me." I could feel Vincent's cold fingers brushing lightly against my cheek, wiping away the trails my tears had streaked down my face. "....I know you're afraid, but.....you have to go. If ShinRa gets their hands on you, it won't stop.......I know what I'm talking about, Allie....I'm living proof..."  
  
"....N...no, please...!" I lifted a hand over my mouth. "....Don't make me go...!!"  
  
I was silenced as the thudding commenced at the doorway again, closing my eyes and releasing a pair of tears down my cheeks. ".................It's so dark......" I whispered throatily, clutching my clammy fists against my chest. "............I can't do it.....Please don't make me do it......Oh, God, please, Vincent......I think I'm going to throw up...!!"  
  
".....Allie, you'll be all right, I promise you..." I could hazily feel him lifting my face with his hands to glance up at his countenance. "...I'll come and find you, I swear to God I will....As soon as I get you out of here and get rid of these ShinRa bastards, I'll search for you.....Please, go now before it's too late..."  
  
The door beside me squealed painfully, straining against its hinges. I stared over towards the postern for several seconds, wiping the tears from my eyes, then gradually glanced up at Vincent's face before me. ".......All....all right...." I whispered quietly. "....I'll....I'll do it..."  
  
A faint smile slid across his lips, and he slowly leaned forward and placed a light kiss on my forehead. "....Pull the bookcase shut behind you when you go down the stairs just in case the troops manage to get in........Oh, here, take this...." He took several steps away from me and pulled open a small drawer hidden in the modest table situated beside the sofa, removing an exquisite gold-encrusted cross. He returned to me, placing the crucifix gently against me. "....It's only a precaution....just so you don't bring anything back with you...."  
  
I gaped blankly up at his face for several seconds, then whirled towards the door as it emitted a torturous groan and the infuriated shouts of the men outside forced their way into the room. "......Go now...." Vincent commanded me softly, keeping his eyes locked on the shuddering doorway before him. "...They're coming...!!"  
  
I forced myself to swallow, then spun about clumsily and dashed down the hallway. The deafening pounding noises gradually began to grow dimmer as I fled, and soon they had almost completely diminished into the thunderous hammering my pulse sounded in my ears.  
  
The library flickered in an eerie pale light, emanating from the grimy torches anchored to the walls above my head. The cross bit icily into my fingers, and I managed to force myself to waver over the frightfully large bookcase in the corner. I inhaled and exhaled a series of stuttering breaths, then grabbed hold of the shelf.   
  
Behind me I could hear that the door had finally given way with a tumultuous crash, and at least ten pairs of boots thudded angrily into the living room down the hall. One furious masculine voice--I could vaguely recognize his tone from the commanding one I had heard earlier--had begun to shout many other orders to the men about him, and now I could perceive the sound of objects being smashed and furniture being overturned. I could detect Vincent's voice as well, assuring the man that there was no one else residing with him and the only reason he had not answered the door sooner was because he had been sleeping, but that soon dissolved into the boisterous sound of footsteps storming down the corridor towards me.  
  
I now stood in the doorway of the concealed passage, staring woodenly back towards the hallway as the strides continued to approached, then, clutching the cross tightly in my right hand, seized the bookcase, pulled backwards, and dragged it clumsily back against the wall behind me.  
  
I was plunged into total darkness.  
  
My View From the Window ~ Chapter Eleven  
  
I couldn't breathe.  
  
The intense sheath of impenetrable darkness had locked in around me as soon as I had pulled the bookcase back against the wall, hiding the passageway once more, and it now had begun to smother my body, choke the life out, and almost cause me to pass out. I stood motionlessly with my back against the wall behind me, holding the cross protectively against my heaving bosom, gaping vacantly at the dense blackness before me, obscuring the long staircase I was almost positive was there. ".....Oh....oh shit....." I whispered hoarsely, forcing myself to swallow. "....What....what the hell am I doing....?....I can't do this......!"  
  
The clamor of the soldiers tearing through the library behind me had become muffled by the bookcase between us, but I could feel the wall shuddering behind me with every heavy footstep or capsized bookcase. The crucifix in my hand burned frigidly against my chest, and I could see its jewel-studded form glittering faintly in the darkness.  
  
I took one quivering step forward, keeping one hand against the wall and descending slowly down the hidden stairway. ".....You'll....you'll be ok, Allie...." I assured myself shakily, feeling for the next step with my foot and gradually continuing my way down. ".....Vincent said you would.....And he said he would find you...Yeah, that's right....Everything's gonna be just fine....You just gotta keep going...."  
  
My foot struck cold brick ground beneath me, and I slowly rested my weight against it and inhaled a trembling breath. I had finally reached the base of the stairwell, and all at once I could sense the nauseating familiarity of the expansive room surrounding me. I remained in that position for probably close to a minute or two, bracing myself against the sharp odor of decaying flesh that had prowled into the thick air, then clenched my hands into fists, closed my eyes, and proceeded to the right.  
  
The smell grew worse.  
  
Each step I took into the darkness, the stabbing aroma of carrion gradually became stronger. I lifted a hand to my mouth, choking pathetically on the grisly scent. ".....The name of the Lord is a strong tower..." I began to mutter mechanically, my voice trembling softly. I clutched the cross tightly against my shaking chest. "...Into it the righteous runs and is given protection....Amen...."  
  
My quivering footsteps echoed deafeningly in the darkness about me.  
  
My vision slowly climbed upwards towards the ceiling, where faintly I could hear some sort of damp scraping noise. Numerous clusters of dirt fell dully to the floor around me, shattering weakly into countless fragments of soil. I forced myself to swallow, shifting another couple of steps into the depths of the passageway. "....Dirt..." I whispered raspingly, my throat dry with suppressed fear. "....The entire ceiling is made of dirt....I must be dozens of feet underneath the road...."  
  
I drew in a smothered gasp as a pale object plummeted clumsily down from the ceiling, striking heavily against the brick floor with a dank splatter. I watched the pallid shape writhe fervently on the dark stone planking, then took several progressive steps forward and squinted my eyes against the darkness. It was a large white maggot, at least a foot or so in length, smeared with random smudges of dirt, twisting agonizingly at my feet, leaving a sodden pool of mire polishing the brick around it. "....U...ughh..." I moaned in disgust, drawing backwards several feet and lifting a shaking hand to my throat. "...There must be thousands of those things crawling around above me......I...I think I'm going to be--"  
  
I was silenced as numerous other maggots began to drop to the floor around me, splashing down with wet splats and continuing to convulse frantically against the floor. I suddenly felt a damp, cold object land stiffly against the back of my neck, dropping limply over my shoulders and slapping damply against my skin. Immediately I emitted a terrified scream and clawed at my collar, finally seizing the squirming larva draped around my throat and flung it away, then shielded my head with my arms and sprinted expeditiously deeper into the cavern.  
  
Eventually my panic and fright sucked away my strength, and after only a few short minutes of running I was forced to collapse weakly against a dark wall behind me in order to catch my quivering breaths. I could feel the icy tears streaking down my cheeks, and the back of my neck still had the subtle feeling of slime oozing about my throat. "....Oh...oh God...!" I wailed throatily, covering my mouth with my shaking hand and choking on an escaping sob. "...Oh God...!! Oh, Jesus, why is this happening to me...??!"  
  
Loud creaking noises had begun to sound out around me, echoing ragingly in the damp air around me. Slowly my vision lifted to scan the dark room surrounding me, and dimly against the wall opposite me I could perceive the form of a skeleton slumped weakly against the brick. A quavering breath clogged my throat, and slowly I shifted into an upright position. Another clamorous squeal tore angrily through the darkness, and immediately I clutched the cross in my hand to my chest. ".......Don't....don't hate me...." I whispered raggedly, keeping against the wall as my eyes remained locked on the motionless skeleton in the shadows across from me. "...Don't be angry with me.....Please...I'm sorry....I'm sorry I came here......I..I want to leave....I just want to leave....I can sense you all here.....I can sense you circling me....I've got Christ with me......Get away..!!"  
  
Another howl severed the stillness engulfing my body, and immediately I let out a frightened scream and covered my head with my arms. I could hear my cry echoing loudly off the brick walls surrounding me, and the cross I held in a trembling fist before my face seared my palm with a metallic, passionless rage. Tumultuous thumping sounds rebounded furiously off the confines, and now I thought I could hear voices, a shrieking choir of death that wailed dimly from further down the hallway. I gradually lifted the cross to my lips and kissed it lightly. "...The name of the Lord is a strong tower..." I repeated involuntarily, my voice quivering with my unpronounced sobs. ".......Into it the righteous runs and is given protection....Amen....."  
  
My head snapped upwards as a boisterous clattering noise erupted from before me, and I watched in shock as a skull gradually rolled into my small field of vision and came to a halt at my feet, staring depravedly up at my face through its empty eye sockets. I stared down at it for several seconds in silence, then slowly directed my vision up towards the passageway before me. "...........H.....hello....?" I called shakily, shifting a foot or two forward and attempting to see through the dense blackness. "...Hello...?? Is....is someone there....?"  
  
The tormented wails swept back towards me, echoing indistinctly off the stone walls. No further sound came from the dark hallway stretched out in front of me.  
  
I could feel the crucifix in my hands vibrating as it rested against my pounding heart, and I gradually drew in a silent breath and straightened myself upright. My eyes languidly slid across the walls on either side of me, and now my vision had adjusted just enough to the darkness that I could presently make out the silhouettes of thousands of skulls lining both edges of the room, and the overwhelming pungency of rotting flesh and wet bone tore viciously into my sinuses. "....The catacombs...." I whispered shakily to myself, surveying the vast expanse of skulls embroidering my path deeper into the tomb. "....I....I can feel something surrounding me....It...it feels angry..."   
  
As I proceeded further into the depths of the grotto, I could hear the howling chorus from before me gradually become closer and louder, screaming from some sort of assistance, lamenting from some sort of agony. Faint squeaking noises were now emanating from the walls, and as I continued forward I cast a glance sideways and caught a glimpse of hundreds of rats scampering across the bones, slipping in and out through blank eye sockets, peering out through open jawbones. I felt a powerful jolt, clutching the cross against my chest. ".........P....Protection.....The...the name of the Lord is a strong tower....Amen......"  
  
A tumultuous squealing noise erupted from above me, and I emitted a terrified scream as numerous skulls on the walls about me rattled unsteadily and finally plummeted from the confines, shattering into thousands of shards of ivory across the floor. Innumerable rats uttered terrified chirps and fled from the smashed bone, and in the darkness I could feel damp fur brushing up against my ankles and small claws burying their way up my right leg. I let out a second timorous shriek and retreated deeper into the cavern, then hid my face behind the cross. "I'm sorry!!" I cried apprehensively. "I'm sorry I'm here!! Please, just let me go!! I'll leave, just leave me alone!!"  
  
The choir screeched again, significantly louder, as if now in the same room as me. Immediately I froze in place, my face still concealed behind the cross in my hands, but I could feel how ragged my breaths had grown and how my eyes refused to tear away from the dark brick underneath my feet. I gradually forced myself to swallow down my parched throat, then sluggishly lifted my vision to the surrounding chamber. The room before forked out into three directions: west, north, and east. Each continued forward into darkness where the passage disintegrated into shadows.  
  
The choir emitted another torturous screech from behind my back, and then I caught the edge of a furious windstorm reeling up above my head. I my eyes fell to the cross in my hands, where I captured a glance of an indistinct mass of howling faces weaving up over my shoulder reflected back towards me from the large ruby jewel positioned in the center.  
  
Immediately a tumultuous scream tore free of my lips, and I found my head involuntarily snapping around behind me. A panicked moment elapsed as my eyes refused to focus, and as my surroundings gradually settled into view I could see nothing but the dank shadows that had submerged my body the entire time. My terrified shriek could still be heard echoing deafeningly off the walls about me, blurred together with some sort of indistinct noise slithering predatorily through the darkness. My throbbing pulse rang out painfully within my skull, and, holding the frigid cross against my chest, inhaled a sharp gasp and dashed into the passageway leading off to my left.  
  
".............Oh shit......" A quivering curse escaped my lips as in the darkness I could make out the eerie silhouette of a tall iron gate stretched up to the ceiling above me. I had only ventured for maybe ten or so minutes into the shadowy passage, and suddenly I had come to an ominous, rusted barrier obstructing my path. I slowly lifted my hands to the icy metal and gave it a rough shake, but it only emitted a corroded squeal and refused to move any further. "....Oh shit..............oh shit....."  
  
Beneath me I could feel that the ground had turned noticeably more damp, and faintly I could pick up the sound of dripping water emanating from beyond the gate and the caliginous shadow of a trail of water snaking out across the floor beneath it.   
  
My eyes sluggishly slid across the hindrance before me, attempting to find some way around the obstacle, but I was hopelessly trapped where I was. I slammed a discouraged fist against the gate, which let off another decaying groan, then leaned weakly back against it. "...........Dammit...." I whispered shakily to myself, lifting a hand to my forehead. "...There's.....there's no freakin' way out.....except.........except to head back the way I came......."  
  
My footsteps rebounded conspicuously off the constricting walls about me, and I could gradually hear the eerie wails and pounding emerging from the larger chamber as I slowly drew nearer once again. I emitted a frightened cry as I could hear the sound of approaching footfalls coming from before me, and I involuntarily withdrew several steps backwards into the passageway before I remembered the encumbering gate at the end. I pressed myself protectively up against the wall, holding the cross against my chest, and then listened in shock as I could sense the footsteps drawing up alongside me, reeling backwards, and continuing indifferently passed me, out towards the gate. I stood frozen in shock, staring after the noise as it continued away from me. No visible being had passed by me, only the echoing sounds of footsteps and an inaudible snap of disgust at the sight of my cross.  
  
I took that moment to flee back into the main chamber.  
  
As soon as I found myself standing in the center of the dark, echoing room, I immediately turned on my heel and trudged straight into the center tunnel. Immediately after stepping into the chamber I had felt invisible whisps of anger streaming about me and clawing furiously at my hands holding the crucifix, and I had waited no longer to see any further reaction. The middle passage I had entered was significantly more narrow than the first, and it loomed about me in an arched cupola instead of a dark corridor. Before me I could see the tunnel gradually bleeding out into a spacious room, and I drew in a startled gasp as I noticed the murky outline of a staircase on the wall across from me.  
  
"...........Oh yes....! Oh please God, don't let me be delirious!!..." I raced forward, into the sunlight that could now be seen filtering through the gaps in the brick above my head. "....I....I made it...!! I'm gonna get out...!!! I'll be ok now, oh thank you God!!!" The staircase seemed to lead up to the concrete ceiling above me, but faintly in the sunlight I could see rusted hinges bolted to the left side of several stones.  
  
Immediately I raced up the stairs and slapped both numb hands up against the icy brick only centimeters now above my head, and with a strained groan I pushed upwards with all my might. The hinges emitted a nauseating squeal.  
  
The bolts were rusted shut. They wouldn't move.  
  
"....Uughh..." I hesitated for a brief moment as this realization gradually seeped through my skull, then exerted full pressure back onto the trap door over my head. ".....Dammit!!" I screamed nastily, the deafening screech of the decaying hinges tearing mercilessly though my ears. "I'm....I'm not gonna die here!! There's no way in hell that this is where I'm gonna spend the rest of my life!! Let.....me....out........!!!"  
  
Those sounds.....the same howling noises that had prowling about me the entire time.....Had they always been so ominously loud? And the way they seemed to be bounding down the corridor towards me....Was that simply my imagination as well...? The cross.....so cold against my stomach as it hung, latched against one of the belt loops on my jeans, swinging lifelessly against my skin....How it seemed to be mocking me, jeering at the fact that it provided no protection for my vulnerable soul and scornfully appearing to be motioning towards the impending clamor down the corridor.........And how the hinges screeched so much louder now....  
  
".....................No!!!" I shrieked, slamming all my energy into the ceiling above my head. "I'm getting out of this.....goddam hell!!!!!"  
  
I heard an earsplitting screech erupt from above my head, and all at once the pressure placed upon my shoulders and arms was torn away, sending me staggering several clumsy steps back down the staircase. Glaring sunlight flooded forcefully into the darkened cavern, splashing ruthlessly into the murky walls and sweeping down the corridor. A thick cloud of dust and grime was ripped free of the stone about me, bursting mercilessly into the air and latching onto my face in a suffocating, fiery mask. Behind me I thought I picked up the sound of voices shrieking in agony and fleeing back down the hallway, clawing angrily at the walls and retreating furiously back into the shadows.   
  
Immediately I caught my balance and grabbed hold of the edge of the ajar trapdoor, yanking myself forward and dragging myself wearily out onto the grass beyond the opening. I could no longer move -- not anymore. I remained immobile on the soil, sprawled out weakly on my hip and sobbing disjointedly into the dirt. The cross dug cruelly into the pit of my stomach, where my weight had been placed atop it, and I could feel the sensitivity gradually seeping back up into my hands. The tears continued flowing in a constant stream down my cheeks and splattering to the ground beneath me, but I slowly shifted myself up onto my elbows. "......Uughhhhh..." I hauled my stagnant body forward, away from the open trapdoor, then pulled myself up into a fatigued kneeling position. "....All....all right now.....I'm ok now....No more...."  
  
I was silenced by a loud scream as the trapdoor beside me was suddenly torn from the ground on its hinges, instantaneously slamming closed back into its original square gorge in the dirt. Another misting of dust slithered into the space before me, gradually fading away into the icy air. I stared down at it vacantly for several moments, then climbed to my feet, turned on my heel, and trudged silently away in the opposite direction.   
  
The cross beat continuously against my right hip.  
  
"...........Where.....where am I....?" I whispered hoarsely, slowly directing my vision about me as I continued forward. I was stationed amongst a graveyard of some sort, significantly larger than the one beside Vincent's apartment, with lofty, looming monuments and mausoleums. Rigid sculptures of gargoyles and eroded angels stared woodenly down at me through expressionless, chiseled eyes, and the only noise that I could hear was the light sound of a doleful breeze sweeping through the silent graves.  
  
From somewhere behind me a church bell sounded, ringing out deplorably through the stillness.  
  
".....I....I must have made it all the way across town..." I whispered softly, lifting my hands to my chest and pausing. I removed my fingers from my bosom and gazed down at them. My palms continued to quiver involuntarily before my eyes. "..............Oh.....oh Christ.........." I removed my gaze from them and lifted it to the graveyard around me once again. "...I think I just made it out of there in time.....before I passed out...."  
  
The church bell tolled a second time, in rhythmic succession with the first. It was growing continuously more distant as I ventured deeper into the midst of the cemetery, and after one final chime it gradually evaporated into the crunching of snow beneath my feet.  
  
The graveyard took me at least fifteen minutes to transverse completely and was surrounded by a tall iron fence encircling the entire length of the perimeter. The main gate was large and elaborate, constructed entirely of a rusting ebony metal gnarled into lavish designs and patterns.  
  
It swung open with a tormenting squeal.  
  
The silence was momentarily severed, casting a violent shiver down my back, and I took several steps forward out into the surrounding world, clinging to the icy gate with my left hand. The cemetery ran parallel to an abandoned dirt road, obviously unused judging by the smooth sheet of snow spread out across its surface. Straight across from me loomed a dark building, deserted as well, eroded significantly by conflicting weather and age, and I could not place what it had at one time been used for due to the severe eating away of the edifice's structure. Situated only a few yards before me was a deteriorating concrete staircase of only five or so steps, leading up to the large hatchway on which a wooden door hung weakly on one hinge. The interior of the building, that which I could see through the small doorway, that is, was entirely dark and masked with a dense blanket of impenetrable blackness.   
  
I stared vacantly at the building before me, then took several steps forward and leaned back against the cold gate in my hand, snapping it shut back on its latches. An icy gale swept past me, ruffling my hair and tearing up the snow into pale clouds of fine powder.   
  
That building.........Some sort of icy feeling swept silently through my veins, causing a elusive shiver to creep down my back and my extremities to turn unusually numb. It...it has an air of familiarity about it.....I'm being drawn.........  
  
I could feel my insensate feet beneath me unwittingly moving forward, leaving a progressive trail of footprints in the frost behind me. It....it feels as if I've been here before...... I thought dazily, stepping up onto the first crumbling stair. The emotions boiling up within me.....I can't tell what they're saying...."Hoax.....?"..... "Fraud...?"......."....Illusion...?" I don't understand......My head's spinning.....I can't think....  
  
My feet landed airily against the top stair, positioning me only a foot or two away from the murky doorway. Even at my impending location I couldn't see through the opaque wall of blackness that stretched out through the open entrance before me, and the air was dank with the heavy aroma of dust and vermin.  
  
I took one step forward. Another.  
  
The darkness slowly closed it around me, swallowing my body whole into its vast stomach of blackness, and as everything gradually faded away into the intense gloom I could sense the familiarity of furious, unsettled anger streaming rabidly through the air.   
  



End file.
